Chosen Two - Year Five
by HeathenVampires
Summary: Vlad bought them a year to fight the war, but Harry knows a year is not much time at all. Even less to immortals. Vlad/Harry. Rated M for sexual content, language, themes. - temporary hiatus
1. Birthday Blues

**Disclaimer - I still don't own Harry Potter or Young Dracula. Sadly.**

 **And so... here we are. Year Five!**

 **Up front - this story is, as you may have noticed, rated M! Because... our boys are growing up and well, they misbehave. I will endeavour to put warnings in the authors note for any chapter containing such debauchery, but it** ** _is_** **going to happen.**

 **And this chapter does not start immediately after where Vlad and Harry's conversation was before, because that still would have been Year Four but you'll get answers. Maybe. Muahahaha.**

 **I** ** _think_** **that is everything.**

 **On we go!**

-YDHP-

It was only one day into summer, less than twenty four hours since Harry had last seen Vlad as they disembarked from the Hogwarts Express, sharing loaded looks as they were in too public a place to be affectionate

And it _sucked._

Harry had had to resort to Dreamless Sleep just to drift off, missing the comforting presence of his boyfriend. He woke feeling off-balance, wondering how Vlad had turned Harry into somebody who couldn't sleep alone.

They had their charmed journals, and it meant they had talked until Vlad had to leave, to try and pacify his dad, intending to stop some kind of outing involving Vlad's 'first drink' despite the fact Vlad was fifteen, not sixteen and as such couldn't drink blood.

Harry had been too embarrassed of his clingy behaviour to ask, fingering his portkey necklace and unsure if it would even still work to take him to Stokely Castle where Vlad was with all the new wards in place. If he strained his senses, Harry could feel how Malfoy Manor _hummed_ with magic.

But he knew - whatever he was feeling, Vlad would be getting ten times **worse** as there was an 'adjustment' period for separation with his mate. He wondered if the same ran true for Ingrid, or even Bertrand. Did Bertrand know? Harry remembered reading that bonds could be unreciprocated, though on a basic level, Harry couldn't see Ingrid Dracula ever having something as inane as _boy trouble._

Of course, Bertrand's presumed homosexuality may be a sticking point. Then there was his boyfriend, and now his _daughter._ Harry found Raven was a child difficult not to enjoy the company of - she was quiet, but gifted both Harry and Draco with bright smiles when they talked to her.

Severus was at first, reticent to let Raven out of his sight, but Harry didn't blame him - raising a newborn alone while having Voldemort for a boss, demanding complicated potions and probably torturing him and threatening his little girl. But Raven was now effectively Harry and Draco's little sister - despite not a single biological parent in common between the three of them - and it became clear she flourished with company and interaction.

"How old is she now?"

"Seven months, give or take a week."

They didn't press the issue, but it became clear that the 'birth' had been traumatic on Severus' body - he still moved stiffly, and if anyone's hands got too close to his abdomen he recoiled. The man had been through an utterly awful year, and they knew it would take time for him to relax, to feel safe again. Bertrand was trying to juggle that and getting to know his daughter, meaning Draco and Harry spent much of their time with just each other.

"Cheer up brother dear. I miss Hermione too yanno."

Harry found himself smiling - not for the sentiment, but for the reminder of how the Draco they met in first year would never have dreamed of using abbreviations and slang words.

"Yeah, but her dad isn't _Count Dracula,_ and it's a lot safer for your girlfriend to visit you at your home. Nobody is even meant to know I'm here."

"They'll be here for your birthday. That's only three more days."

"I know. Let's just get on with homework, impress the book worms we both landed."

They needed no prompting from the adults, throwing themselves into studies to pass the time, and so there would be no impediment to their time with their respective partners. There was zero doubt _they_ would have done all their homework in no time flat.

"Explain how to transform a human into an animal"

"And why it is different to an Animagus transformation."

The two boys shared a grin, both with their usual stack of study snacks - Harry and Draco still shared the carnivorous appetites of their variant species, and Harry's sugar craving complimented Draco's chocolate addiction well. The house elves would scold them for having food in the library, and Draco would jokingly lament there was a time they wouldn't have looked cross-eyed at a Malfoy.

"What is it about having Vlad in our lives that makes everyone soft? He chased off my parents, rescued my godfather, indirectly or directly saved all three of the other Champions lives even though he almost died every single task... has Weasleys partying at Malfoy Manor and made Gryffindors and Slytherins friends. Even Ingrid's cheered up a bit the last two years."

Harry smiled fondly as he thought of his rather wonderful boyfriend, seeing amusement dance in Draco's amber-tinted eyes.

"I guess because he works so hard to be more than the expectation of evil vampire, and it's hard not to respond to that. Plus, he obviously values family and choice since he doesn't get much of one..."

Harry trailed off, hunting through his work pile for his Astronomy chart homework.

"Draco... when was your last dose of Wolfsbane?"

He didn't even look concerned, and Harry was confused.

"It's too late, it has to be taken all week. But I will take this one months hit to have Severus back. Don't bring it up with him, please? I don't want to make him feel bad for forgetting."

"He's going to notice when you have to be locked away."

"Nothing to be done. Let's just get this essay finished."

Harry nodded, turning back to his books. Raking over the issue wouldn't change that Draco was going to have to go through the transformation as nature cruelly intended, forced upon him as opposed to a birthright.

"Wait. You don't have to do it alone anymore."

"Harry, I will eat you alive under the moon."

"Not me. Well, not _just_ me. Has Hermione not told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Ah. I'm in trouble."

"Told me _what_ Harry? If you don't tell me now so help me Merlin-"

"We became animagi!"

Harry held his hands up in defence, warding off an irate werewolf in a bid to not find out if Harry's bulk would outweigh Draco's supernatural strength.

"You... what?"

"The last year or so. We've been training to become animagi. And... we did it."

" _How_ did you hide that?"

Hoping he didn't get his boyfriend in trouble, Harry shrugged and watched the hackles on Draco slowly go down.

"Vlad. Gives an insight on werewolf senses to ensure you didn't _sniff_ us out."

"Moron. Did anything go wrong?"

"No. And Vlad can't transform that way, so he **always** supervised our practices. The worst that happened was... no, Hermione can tell you about it. I promised to keep it secret, she's already gonna lynch me."

Draco's eyes tightened as he considered Harry's words, then his girlfriends formidable temper before relaxing.

"Fair enough."

They lapsed back into silence and Harry managed three lines on his essay - until Draco disturbed the scratch of his quill again.

"What's your form?"

"Not telling."

"Wait. I remember that day you reeked of birds. Is that it?"

Sighing, Harry realised his would-be brother was literally like a dog with a bone.

"Yes, and that's all you're getting out of me if you don't want to see my _other_ side."

It took a second for the blond to click, then his eyes skated down to where Harry's basilisk bite scar remained. He gulped a little.

"Yeah, why don't we leave it at that."

Five minutes later they were asking the house elves for cake, animosity forgotten. When Harry went to bed that evening, he stared at the empty space all around him that Vlad should be filling. Only three days to go.

* * *

"Vladdy! Are you sure you must return to that stinking breather hole of a school?"

"Dad, we go over this every time."

"And yet, you continue to heartlessly abandon me Vladimir!"

"I thought you wanted me to be heartless dad?"

"Well yes but- what I meant was... Renfield, get the door will you? It's probably that old crone."

Vlad closed his eyes, counted to ten and thought of Harry's upcoming birthday to focus on something other than the dull ache in his back that would become a full on pain attack within the hour. He adjusted his cape, gritting his fangs as he prepared to 'present' to his grandparents. Ingrid watched, not bothering to even stand up like dogs on a showline with him.

At least he was getting it all done with. Dad, granny and grandpa... with any luck, he could spend more time with Harry over the summer. Since he hadn't yet found the nerve to ask Harry to portkey over at night, pathetically hoping Harry would ask and validate Vlad's missing him.

He knew Harry missed him to an extent, but perhaps not the same and he may well be enjoying the break from Vlad watching him sleep, from being around him _all the time._ So Vlad forced himself to be content with waiting for Harry's birthday, with talking through the journals until his dad would come in and demand his attention.

"Too much colour in your cheeks, do they make you spend time outside at that school?"

"I have classes outside, so... yes."

 _And so it begins._ Vlad forced himself to stand up straight, itching to tear off the stifling leather and hasten away to Malfoy Manor.

The absolute micro-second Atilla and Krone flapped off, Vlad threw off his cape and sighed deeply. Ingrid watched with a hint of amusement as he did so, knowing Vlad had hated having to wear ghastly Champions outfits through the year and vampire attire was no better to him.

He _really_ wished the VHC hadn't publicised Vlad's entry into the Triwizard Tournament, though they appeared to have missed out reporting his near death experiences in each task. _The Sunblock_ had somehow gotten a picture from the award ceremony, an eerie unmoving image of Vlad holding his trophy next to the "breather magic minister" as it was worded.

It meant explaining himself, as he hadn't told his family about it and Vlad didn't want to go into details about the subsequent kidnap, which wasn't public but with his grandparents part of the VHC itself, they had heard about it.

"Well, that was an experience."

"An awful one."

Ingrid winked, tossed Vlad a chocolate frog from his own bag - though Ingrid stole his things frequently so he wasn't too surprised - and dropped down onto the chair in his room while he changed in the bathroom.

"How's your back doing?"

"Agonising, thanks for asking. It's as healed as it'll ever be, but my chest still hurts occasionally, even now so I'm not hopeful about this improving. Then there's _this_ thing" Vlad pulled down his pyjama shirt collar, pointing at the Dark Mark "which itches. I think it's meant to hurt or burn, but I don't know how it responds to vampire magic."

"I'm the Slytherin and _you're_ the death eater. Oh, the irony."

"I'm not a- I wish I hadn't told him to leave you alone. Ow!"

Ingrid shot a stinger at his leg, singeing his pyjama bottoms. Vlad repaired it, glaring.

"You deserved it."

"I did not!"

"Either way, get over it."

Wondering if it would be rude to hex his sister, Vlad folded his clothes up and piled the books for tomorrows homework on his desk, then quietly wondered how to get rid of Ingrid.

"Isn't it time you were in your coffin?"

"What's wrong? Time to cry into your pillow about missing your boyfriend?"

Vlad closed his eyes, fighting the sudden upsurge of anger and disconnect that reminder gave him. A bitter retort lingered on his tongue, but Vlad swallowed it down like bile rather than lash out at Ingrid.

"That was uncalled for."

"Hmm. Only a little. Vamp up Vlad, you're dead in a year."

Ingrid finally left, and Vlad _made_ himself not stay mad at her - she _always_ got angry, harsh when they were back in Stokely, when their dad made a huge fuss about Vlad and barely noticed Ingrid. Vlad hated attention and Ingrid reveled in it - it was a bad combination all around. At least Ingrid hadn't outed Vlad to their father about Harry...

Journal buzzing, Vlad smiled a little as he saw Harry's messy writing spread over the page. He sat down on his bed again, grabbed his pen and started writing. As the time wore on, the writing became less satisfying and he grew more desperate to _see_ Harry, to touch him and hold him and breathe in the scent of his mate.

Chest aching with emptiness, Vlad saw Harry's hand slipping with sleepiness in slanted writing and forced himself to tell Harry to go to sleep.

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too. Sleep now."

He put the journal down, flopped back on his bed and tried to ignore just how chronically lonely he was without Harry. His birthday was soon, and Vlad would go through his father's irritation a _thousand_ times before he missed his mates birthday.

Sleep was yet again elusive, leaving Vlad lonely, pained and tired as he stumbled down to breakfast, bleary eyed and mildly nauseous.

"Vladdy my boy! I've been thinking, perhaps you should just finish with that ghastly school and I'll hire you some private tutors!"

"Dad, I'm _not_ quitting Hogwarts. We've been over this. When I turn eighteen, I'm going to the Grand High Vampire. You're going to have to get used to the fact I won't always be around for your entertainment."

Irritable as he reached for the toast rack, Vlad didn't look at his father's angry face - he heard it in the thunderstorm suddenly building in late July. The sunlight at the windows dimmed, lightning crackled and Vlad continued to chew his toast.

"That's different. That's a noble honour bestowed on my wonderful son and-"

"And it'll be an embarrassment to my reputation if they think I couldn't handle seven years of breather school."

Vlad intended to keep his father in the dark about his role in keeping Harry alive and well to fight against Riddle for as long as possible. So he couldn't talk about saving the magical world from magical-blood supremacy. His father would probably sympathise with the movement, being a half-fang snob himself in general, and considering breathers as food.

He intended to keep his dad in the dark about his male mate and homosexuality even longer.

"I suppose you're right. Especially with _her"_ he indicated Ingrid, who scowled "having already finished there."

"Dad... Ingrid doesn't graduate until _next_ year."

"Close enough."

Hoping that was the end of the argument, Vlad made a start on his Charms essay, hands shaking when he realised he and Harry had swapped textbooks by accident. They were identical - except Harry's smelled like Harry, the scent of his mate sweet and tempting and enough to make Vlad's heart spasm in his chest.

Ingrid found him doing his work, somehow noticed and wrote him a note on scrap parchment before leaving, her laughter in the air.

 _Try not to fall asleep cuddling that book. Dad might burn it._

Vlad scowled after her, despite the fact she couldn't see that fact since she left. Ingrid did that - just turned up, annoyed him and left. Phantom mewled in annoyance as Ingrid had closed the door behind her, the little furball wanting to go exploring the castle. Or more specifically, to raid Renfields rat stash.

Abandoning his essay for five minutes, Vlad scooped up his familiar and was rewarded with a lick to the face. She still hadn't grown much since he got her, but was as fluffy and affectionate as she had ever been, batting his cheek with a paw and purring when Vlad smiled.

"Thanks girl, I _did_ need cheering up."

Knowing she could quite expertly avoid his dad, Vlad let her out to wreak havoc in the castle as reward for putting a little joy back in his heart. He managed to finish his Charms essay, finding himself stroking the pages of Harry's book only twice before it was done. Rather than pathetically bask in it, Vlad made himself put the book away and set up for Transfiguration. That too, carried memories of Harry as the essay was two feet on animal-transfiguration versus Animagus transformations.

He had an insight to both - Viktor had used one in the Tournament, and Vlad had helped Harry and Hermione achieve _their_ animagus transformations. Well, he had supervised them at the very least.

Heat tingled inside him, nudging Vlad to think harder about something he opted to ignore and he forced himself into the essay, halfway done before dinner. Dinner was stilted and silent, surprisingly tame with no Weasleys, werewolves and basilisks eating at the table.

The night before Harry's birthday, Vlad was twisting in his need to go to Malfoy Manor. He had packed, repacked, checked all his homework and spent far too long selecting an outfit to wear. And _still_ there was time to be wasted before he could sleep away the hours to go.

"Already abandoning me, casting me aside like dust upon the earth..."

Count Dracula was putting on a dramatic show about Vlad's leaving, complaining about him being friends with breathers and ignoring Vlad's point about needing to study with Bertrand for his _final_ Blood Test.

"I'm **going** dad. If you weren't so set on threatening everyone you meet, I could invite you along but I'm not putting my friends in danger."

"My thirst for blood is more important than your 'friends'!"

"Not to me."

Vlad went to bed early, changed into his pyjamas and curled up on his bed, waiting for Harry to be done spending time with Draco and Raven, maybe even Hermione - she could well already be there, having the portkey Vlad made her.

The night crawled on by, and Vlad leapt out of bed the second Phantom indicated it was close to acceptable times to be awake. His heart skipped every time Vlad thought about it - _he was seeing Harry today!_

"Try to look a little less thrilled, would you? You're happier than a werewolf in mud."

"That's pigs in muck Ingrid."

"Close enough."

Sticking his tongue out maturely, Vlad felt the bats in his stomach too excitable for even breakfast, sipping at a cup of tea until their father went to his coffin for the day, and Harry buzzed his journal to say he was up and awake.

"Grab your stuff, let's go before dad wakes up and chains me to my bedpost or something."

"It would be funny to see you two fight so you can get back to your-"

"Ingrid, shh. Grab the portkey would you?"

The jerk of magic transporting them barely registered, and it was good Vlad had directed portkey travel to the main foyer - so long as he had made it, of course. Else Ingrid would have been fried in the summer sunshine.

"Vlad!"

The voice had him turning around, feeling Harry's bulk slam into him beautifully as his mate embraced him, clutching him tight.

"Merlin, I missed you."

"Missed you more."

Satisfied that everyone in the Manor knew about them, Vlad kissed his boyfriend and felt the beast in his chest soothed, content again in the presence of his mate. Harry smiled broadly, even when Ingrid mimed vomiting and headed off to her room to settle in before undoubtedly demanding food from the elves. Some things never changed.

"Happy Birthday by the way."

"Thanks. How long are you staying?"

"As long as I can get away with?"

Harry beamed, already leading Vlad by the hand to the breakfast table, which was covered in copious amounts of food to pacify a vampire, a werewolf and a basilisk. The amount of humans in Malfoy Manor seemed to diminish every year. Basking in Harry's scent up close, Vlad knew it would probably never get easier to be away from him, but he didn't really mind spending all his time making Harry smile.

-YDHP-

 **Hello Year Five!**

 **And you all know what Year Five brings?**


	2. Half-blood Hypocrites

**Thanks to BlueAutumn12, Chance13, You and YokaiAngel for the reviews on Year Four!**

 **You - well, you'll see in this chapter! And I actually felt really bad keeping them apart, but also acknowledge they can't always be together all the time realistically.**

 **BlueAutumn12 - I always aim to post the last and first together, because with all the other *ahem* less conventional stuff I write, I feel guilty if anyone** ** _follows_** **me as an author just for Chosen Two... so it's a smooth transition.**

 **Flylo-13 - I think I already answered this way back, but - not likely, he's just not relevant to the story and I feel there's enough going on already. Thanks for saying you love the story!**

 **Now, onto the chapter. As promised, warnings for debauchery. Mild. Ish.**

-YDHP-

"Are the Weasleys coming? Only..."

Draco trailed off, indicating his godfather and the baby in his lap.

"Bats. I didn't even think of that. Probably, their portkeys all still work and they'll want to see Harry for his birthday. Severus, it's up to you... they knew you disappeared, but that's it."

"I am not subjecting my daughter to the entire Weasley clan. I understand that they are a trusted party, but perhaps we should be limiting awareness of my location."

"Well... they stay here sometimes, so you'll have to relocate to one of the other wings. In the interests of staying under the radar, because they like that they can do magic here."

Severus hummed under his breath, looking down at his daughter for several minutes as she held her bottle to her mouth.

"Her paternity is unmistakable-"

"They don't care if you're _gay._ I publicly dated Viktor, not a blink. So long as you're not a death eater."

"Ironic really, considering your-"

"Yes, _thank you_ Ingrid. They don't know about that."

Harry watched Vlad and Ingrid bicker back and forth, keeping an eye on Raven.

"You could always disguise her. Give her a mop of blonde hair and she'll pass for an illegitimate Malfoy."

That won a silence filled only by the sounds of Harry chewing on some bacon, to satisfy him a little until the usual mountain of meat, black pudding and mushrooms could end up on his plate. Severus considered it, but shook his head.

"No. I do not think either she or I really need the rowdiness of the Weasley clan."

Harry shrugged, swallowed his mouthful of sausage and smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't hold it against you missing my birthday party."

"Most gracious."

He caught a hint of smirk along Severus' mouth - he was actually _almost_ making a joke. It was progress, the man was still adjusting to actual company rather than lunatics. Severus kindly allowed Draco and Harry to spend a few minutes playing with Raven after breakfast, interacting with who was now effectively their adoptive sister. Harry had never been a big brother before, hell he had barely been a brother for a year or so to Draco.

She giggled quietly, smiled and gurgled and clapped her hands together when Harry animated her toys for her, making the toy broomstick fly around her head slowly until Raven tried to grab it. She was really quite an enchanting little girl, Harry noted. Vlad quietly interrupted them, now it was apparently decided Severus and Raven would leave.

"It's nine thirty, if I know their habits they'll be here by ten. You can go with them if you like Bertrand, we can cover for you and say you're sleeping."

Harry watched Bertrand take the opportunity, following his partner and daughter out of the room with a quiet gratitude to Vlad. House elves cleared the evidence of extra seats at the table being used, and the usual excessive, extravagant party food replaced the breakfast by nine-fifty. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught Vlad and Ingrid conversing quietly while Hermione and Draco added their gifts to the usual spot where Harry could open them later.

He wavered over whether or not the Weasleys should know about he and Vlad - hiding their relationship at Malfoy Manor sounded _ridiculous,_ but he knew Vlad would follow his lead there regardless.

Not wanting to seperate Vlad from comforting his sister - especially now Harry understood why Ingrid needed something as human as comfort when she claimed to be the Ice Queen of Hogwarts... or the world, depending what day it was - Harry still wanted to address the issue with Vlad. His answer was predictable.

"If you want to tell them, then I'm all for it. If you don't, I'm still ok with that."

"I'm more concerned about what we tell them. We were dating near two months before you and Krum broke up."

"So we say it started after the second task. I agree we shouldn't tell them about Viktor, he's entitled to privacy wherever possible. Assuming we tell them anything, that is."

Harry felt his heart rate pick up slightly, half-watching the clock as Vlad kept his attention both on Harry and the area his portkeys would drop the Weasleys. A familiar 'pop' sound announced them, Mrs Weasley speaking first.

"I still say it's rude to turn up uninvited."

"Relax mum."

It wasn't until Vlad started to take his hand away from Harry's that Harry made a decision, holding firm and Vlad's eyes betrayed surprise. Even as the Weasleys walked in, Harry didn't feel nervous anymore - he wasn't hiding in his own home. They didn't seem to notice the two holding hands at first, Mrs Weasley coming over to pinch a cheek and envelop him in a hug.

"Harry! Happy Birthday! Oh, you've grown again! Honestly, I hardly recognise you!"

Harry smiled, seeing the whole clan behind her - minus Percy, he noted - as their eyes found Vlad and Harry's joined hands, a communal lightbulb going off all at once.

"Are you two a thing now?"

Vlad didn't answer, still giving Harry chance to back out, to stay silent.

"Uh, yes, but it's not public knowledge."

"I knew it! That's five sickles you owe me George!"

"Hang on, I was the one who said they were!"

"Liar!"

Bill and Charlie ignored their twin brothers, managing to greet Vlad and Harry simultaneously.

"About time eh?"

"I concur Charlie. Now, tell us Harry... what do you have that Viktor Krum didn't?"

Vlad groaned, burying his face in his non-occupied-by-Harry hand. And then... he lied.

"That isn't _why_ me and Viktor broke up. We just agreed we made better friends."

Bill quirked a ginger eyebrow, then ruffled Harry's hair and moved to greet Draco and Hermione while Charlie went to watch his brothers prostrate themselves before Ingrid as usual. Ginny smiled at them both, wished Harry a happy birthday and left them to be catalogued fully by the Weasley matriarch.

"I'm very happy for you both! I hope you don't mind us just _turning up_ by the way Draco dear."

"Not at all. This is Harry's home too, where else is he going to have a birthday party?"

"You're such a wonderful host."

"Bertrand sends his apologies, only he was dying to spend some time sleeping in the day since he doesn't always get the chance during term time."

"Of course."

Satisfied the whole 'coming out' had been a non-event - nobody had even mentioned the word "gay", which Harry realised he didn't mind ascribing to himself but didn't like the dramatics - Harry kissed his boyfriend and won a beautiful smile. And wolf-whistles from the Weasleys, but Vlad only had eyes for him in that moment.

"Before we dive headfirst into the traditional challenge of who can eat the most cake before they hurl... Quidditch?"

Vlad waved him off to join the others in the air, knowing the Dracula siblings would only play when it was a simple two on two game. Flying felt different since he 'changed' completely, Harry noticed, a little weird to consider a Basilisk up on a broom. Still, the usual glee of soaring through the air soon took over, and everyone was grinning wildly with sun-kissed skin when they returned inside.

They ended up taking the food outside, with shade and sun-protection charms for Ingrid, cooling charms on their drinks and - by choice for his own amusement - Draco used one of the Malfoy's more expensive dinner party table cloths for them to all sit on the ground in, despite the fact any of them could probably have conjured something similar, or had a house elf do so. Instead, they gorged on brownies and cupcakes, pastries and biscuits all washed down with butterbeer or pumpkin juice on an inordinately comfortable and plush table linen.

When he got around to opening gifts, stomach slightly curved outward and groaning from sweets-related fullness, Harry couldn't help laughing at Charlie's gift, which made Vlad glare for just a second.

" _How Not To Get Eaten By Dragons._ Thanks Charlie."

"That's actually mandatory reading for my job. They test us on it and everything before you're allowed to work with the dragons alone. And maybe it'll keep your boyfriend alive."

"Eat me dragon boy."

"I think that's the other way around batman."

A quiet throat clearing and silent glare from Mrs Weasley had both Vlad and Charlie suddenly behaving themselves as Harry worked through the rest of his gifts - clothes, books, candy and joke items prevalent among them.

"This was from Viktor by the way - he thought you might like it."

Harry took the wrapped box, opening it to find a signed Quaffle that the Weasleys confirmed must have come from the World Cup match last year. Harry was a little speechless, the others all in awe.

"Perks of knowing a pro Quidditch player eh?"

"I'll have to write him a **very** good thank you note."

"You steal his boyfriend and he _still_ gives you an awesome gift."

"Unless it's a thank you for taking Vlad off his hands?"

"Maybe. Vlad, were you a terrible boyfriend?"

"Fred! George!"

Unable to contain his laughter, Harry squeezed Vlad's hand in reassurance - he knew Vlad was an _excellent_ boyfriend.

"You should have seen the fancy French aftershave and chocolates the Delacour family sent Vlad for his birthday."

"Well, he did sort of save both their daughters lives. You can imagine they're quite fond of him."

"Yeah, Gabrielle has a crush on him. Sent a card with a bunch of little hearts in!"

Vlad's cheeks spontaneously developed pink tinges, a glare with absolutely no venom in it directed at Harry - he remembered teasing his boyfriend mercilessly about the card.

"Let's hope Fleur explains that Vlad seeks for the home team, save her the disappointment."

"Vlad is pretty disappointing."

"Thanks Ingrid."

"Anytime little bro."

The party went on for _hours_ as usual, culminating in a huge birthday cake that everyone was almost too sick to eat. Draco told Harry that Severus and Bertrand had both been taken care of for meals, and after the Weasleys retired to their rooms - or back home to her husband in Mrs Weasleys case - the two returned down to enjoy a quiet warm drink and slice of cake - including Raven, for Harry's birthday.

Vlad even left them and Draco alone, volunteering to keep watch at the staircase and set himself up with a book, shooing his lover off. Raven didn't seem sure what to make of her tiny piece of cake, most of it ending up crushed between her fingers and then wiped down Harry's pyjama shirt.

"Thanks. I guess that's baby sister prerogative eh?"

She giggled, then started to grizzle and Severus took her back, settling her in a second.

"Did you enjoy your birthday?"

"I did. You're clear by the way Bertrand, they think you're sleeping in the day. Our biggest concern is Draco, because the full is soon."

"Is simply sending them away out of the question?"

"It would be highly suspicious."

"Not to mention it's good to have them around. Bill and Charlie are about the only people easily available that can give Vlad and Ingrid half a challenge during practice."

"And it's more important than ever he steps up his game, with the time limit ticking."

Severus sighed, shifting Raven so she could fall asleep against him comfortably with a thumb in her mouth. Severus Snape letting his daughter suck her thumb... it defied belief if one only knew the harsh Potions professor Harry met back in first year.

"I agree. Much to my own annoyance. They are _not_ to know about myself or Raven."

"Alright. It's your call Severus."

With Raven falling asleep, they finished their drinks and separated for the night. Vlad looked up from his seat on the staircase with a smile, and Harry returned it - he was a little giddy with the prospect of getting to sleep next to him again. Or rather, half on top of him now Vlad's back had finally healed enough he could sleep on it.

"Good night guys."

"Night Draco."

Vlad followed Harry into his bedroom with no discussion - it made sense, since Harry was the one living there and if Fred and George woke before them, they usually went to Vlad's room first, as his early bird habits were common knowledge. Harry ditched his cake-covered shirt, making sure it wouldn't end up getting crumbs and icing on the bed.

"So, have you had a good day?"

"I have. I never thought I'd enjoy birthdays until I met you."

Vlad's smile could have lit a dark room, bright and genuine as they kicked off slippers and socks, brushed their teeth and then both crawled into Harry's huge bed. He watched as Vlad wriggled, inhaling deeply as he did so.

"What are you doing?"

He blushed a little, but then shrugged it off.

"This bed smells like you. So I like it."

Chuckling, Harry settled for laying on his side, head resting on his hand with his elbow bent beneath to allow him to simply watch Vlad. The vampire closed his eyes, and while Harry knew Vlad wasn't getting ready to sleep quite yet, he looked so content it felt rude to disturb him.

"I missed this. I'm spoilt for sleeping alone forever now."

Vlad smiled, trailing pale fingers down Harry's neck to finger the pendant there.

"You know this still works for Stokely right? I mean, it's ok if you want to have a break from me but-"

"So I can just turn up in your room whenever I like?"

"Well... I suggest asking in advance just so I can get rid of my dad, but... yes."

"I can do that."

Taking the initiative, Harry felt Vlad's fingers curl lightly over his shoulder as they kissed. He knew he was lucky to have a partner who never stopped being intensely responsive, every time seeming as fresh and new as the first with Vlad. The other boys pyjama shirt soon vanished, bare chests pressed together as Vlad managed to make his way directly underneath Harry.

Vlad whined, a low and needy sound in the back of his throat as Harry pressed closer into him, sharing in the sudden reaction as their erections pressed against the other. Vlad couldn't seem to help but chase it, hips rolling up to repeat the feeling and Harry hissed, feeling the pleasurable sensations as they broke apart, breathing slightly ragged already.

 _Maybe_ he had missed Vlad a fair bit.

Slim, pale hands fumbled at Harry's waistband, then Vlad's own and suddenly they were skin on skin, Vlad's long fingers wrapping around them both as he thrust up again. Harry felt his cock leak, sticky fluid easing the slide as he got the idea, setting a rhythm Vlad happily followed as they ground against each other.

Normally they took turns bringing each other off with their hands, and it was amazing. But this was new, intense and _Merlin_ it felt good, Harry's own pleasure and arousal being stoked hotter by Vlad's reactions, the hot slide that stimulated the length of his cock from base to tip all at once. Harry felt the familiar tingle building embarrassingly fast, uinsure his warning to Vlad made it through the stream of sounds falling shamelessly from his mouth.

Vlad's free hand rested on Harry's back, nails digging in slightly as he bit his lip and Harry wasn't sure he would ever be able to focus on anything ever again with the image of Vlad, cheeks flushed and neck arched burned into his memory.

The hand holding their cocks together never faltered, stroking in time with Harry's hips and he felt Vlad's length swell and twitch beneath his own, Vlad making a pained, desperate sound as he came and Harry choked, fisting his hand in the sheets next to Vlad's head as he followed, spilling over Vlad's stomach to join the mess already there.

He managed not to drop into the sticky puddle on Vlad's belly, rolling onto his side and managing to straighten his bottoms. Vlad copied him, more carefully to avoid the mess as their heaving breaths evened out

"That was... new. Was it ok?"

" _Brilliant._ I applaud your creativity."

Vlad smiled, waving a hand over his abdomen and Harry saw the faint glow of a cleaning charm before it faded, leaving only the pale expanse of Vlad's abdomen again.

"Happy birthday Harry."

* * *

Vlad knew he needed to shower - Harry too - or else half of the residents of Malfoy Manor would be able to tell what had happened last night, and he could live without Ingrid mocking his sex life. _Forever._ Quite happily.

Of course, right now he was dying to get up and pee. Harry was sleeping quite adorably, but his hip was sort of weighing on Vlad's bladder and if he didn't make a decision to move Harry soon, there might be an accident.

Luckily - if sadly - Harry woke shortly, rolling off of Vlad and stretching next to him. Momentarily distracted by the way Harry stretched, serpentine and streamlined with arms above his head and legs seeming to try and lengthen, Vlad only realised he had to move when his bladder gave a nudge.

"Where you going? I was comfortable."

"Bathroom."

Harry grumbled sleepily, but didn't try and stop Vlad. Bladder emptied, Vlad brushed his teeth and washed his face with a little water to wake himself up, knowing he would clean up properly in the shower soon but anxious to get back to Harry. Said wizard had rolled on his side, eyes closed again but when Vlad sat back on the bed, emerald eyes opened and he smiled up at Vlad.

"Don't like when you leave."

Stomach fluttering pleasantly, Vlad shuffled back down to lay next to him.

"Unfortunately, I still have bodily functions until I'm sixteen and I didn't want to to wet the bed."

"Mmm, suppose that's alright. Now you can stay there."

When the two finally made it down to breakfast, there was something of a spectacle. A letter, glowing and hovering over the Malfoy dining table, which nobody seemed to want to touch.

"Hey Vlad, who's sending you sinister looking post?"

"And more importantly, can you move it so I can eat bacon?"

Vlad saw his name on the envelope, red ink shining. His immediate concern was Riddle, which would bode not so well if he knew Vlad was at Malfoy Manor where Harry resided. There was also the question of how it got through Vlad's warding spells.

"It's clean, I checked. Now pick it up so I can find out who went to all this trouble to tell you you're a dork."

Ingrid, as ever, was _not_ a morning person. Vlad reached out, feeling the magic humming around the letter, reaching out to sense the person touching it. The glow faded when Vlad's fingers made purchase, magic dissipating now it reached it's recipient. Flipping it over, a seal showed itself upon the wax closure.

"It's from the VHC. Vampire High Council to you guys."

Vlad flipped open the envelope, pulling out the aged parchment that smelled of dust and blood-ink. He scanned the note, unsure what to make of it.

"It's a warning from the DMV..." only Ingrid seemed to understand that, and Vlad was met with a bunch of blank looks "oh, the Department of Magical Vampires, warning that someone on their list of known vampire haters has been in talks to become a member of Hogwarts staff. Dolores Jane Umbridge... Never heard of her."

Draco knew the name it seemed, face crinkling in confusion as he bit into a sausage and chewed thoughtfully.

"Dolores Umbridge? She works for the Ministry of Magic... she's like, Cornelius Fudge's right hand woman. What position?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts I'm guessing, Tonks was only drafted for security for the tournament, which obviously went swimmingly."

Harry snorted into his tea, looking over at Vlad after he wiped the liquid from his face.

"The Ministry didn't waste any time in deciding to replace her with someone they picked."

"Yeah, well... the Ministry tried to kill me at the Award Ceremony. This is mild by comparison."

"How did they send you that letter?"

"It's keyed to find my magical signature. They only sent it to me because Ingrid's a girl... unfortunately, the VHC are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to equality and womens rights."

Vlad placed it aside to focus on breakfast, feeling a little odd with Bertrand's empty seat at the table. It had a place setting - just in case Bertrand wanted breakfast for dinner, as Charlie described it while drizzling syrup on his pancakes.

"What? Half the time I'm wrestling dragons, long breakfasts are a luxury."

"When do you need to go back to work?"

"Day after tomorrow for me. Charlie the day after that. We both always take the first week of summer off to see the Hogwarts ones."

"Speaking of... where's Percy?"

"He uh... he joined the Ministry, I think he might be buying their anti vampire bull."

"We did point out said vampire _has_ saved our little sister from bad stuff, but he's acting like dragon dung."

Vlad frowned, swallowing his mouthful of food.

"He's not obligated to like me because me and Harry pulled your sister out of the Chamber."

Charlie shrugged, slicing his pancake haphazardly.

"Perce is acting like dragon shit to everyone lately, the Ministry were trying to keep Voldemort returning in the 'no' pile but Fleur came back alive and said he was there, so now it's an 'us and them' thing with believers or not. He'll come around."

"I don't want to cause a rift-"

"Be quiet. Percy has always had his holier than thou attitude, this is just that again. I blame Dumbledore for making him head boy and feeding his ego. Ooh, it's prefect year for you guys isn't it?"

"I'm banking on Draco and Hermione, although I'm not sure if couples are allowed to be both in one house."

The twins shook their heads in sync, sharing a look.

"Really? We've got money on you Vladdy boy."

"Garlic, I hope not. I have enough going on this year."

He looked at his hand, with the glamour charm masking the unbreakable vow scar lines on it. Those words had far more weight than even the Weasleys understood.

"Harry's Quidditch Captain, right?"

Casting his mind back, Vlad remembered Harry saying McGonogall planned to have offered him that place last year. Said wizard was currently engaged in food too much to notice.

"I think so? It'll be in our letters right?"

"Yes, which is why I gave Harry an open ticket to go buy a broom when we go school shopping. We only have a couple of years left to set a win streak for Gryffindor before we leave. You can't fly my broom if I make the team."

"But-"

Draco cut Harry off, grinning.

"And before he argues again, I will remind him I could buy the entire _store_ and it wouldn't make a dent. I should start thinking about business ventures soon."

Harry glared but fell silent, glowering over his eggs while Vlad looked on fondly at him. He found Bill and Charlie watching them with knowing smiles, but there wasn't a trace of animosity about them as a couple.

"So... how long are you two planning to stay a secret?"

Harry had his mouth full, so Vlad answered for him.

"As long as possible, you remember the media circus with Viktor."

"Yeah. Add that to gay boy who lived... big news."

"Plus, I don't want the VHC _too_ clued in. With my transformation less than a year away now, they'll be trying to nudge me off dating breathers."

"That's a thing?"

Vlad nodded, cringing at the memory of his father explaining that to him as it rang in his ears.

" _It's abnormal to mate with your dinner_. Vampires won't care he's a guy, but a **heartbeat?** Dreadful."

"That was... graphic. I promise never to violate food."

"I am very happy to hear you say that Charlie. Any chance we can drop this topic over breakfast?"

Done before most of the others, Vlad picked up the letter again and re-read it, as though it could offer up additional information about Dolores Umbridge.

"Oh hey, there's more on the back Vlad."

Flipping the parchment over, Vlad found new writing he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Oh, this pertains to you too Ingrid. They want to see if we can apparate. Magical vampires generally can't, but a couple have done and because we are 'unique' already, they are dying to know. So there'll be one of the ones who can coming to see if we have that gift."

"No fair, we can't do it until next year."

Throwing a sulking Draco an eyeroll, Vlad placed the letter back down.

"Yeah well, you don't turn into a member of the undead in just over ten months time."

"Show off."

Vlad put the information to one side for the day, focusing instead on duel training with the Weasleys - Bill and Charlie would leave soon, taking the only two who posed a challenge other than Severus, who Vlad refused to duel in his condition, to Vlad and Ingrid. Ginny and Hermione completely steam-rolled Fred and George, winning laughter from the older brothers.

They spent the afternoon poring over broom catalogues. Well, most of them did. Vlad, Ingrid and Hermione left them to it, a sea of red with one blond and one ebony head amongst them.

"A history of the Phoenix?"

"Studying for the Tournament got me really into magical creatures."

Ingrid raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. Hermione was working through Vlad's old Occlumency texts, apparently eager to move on to something new and challenging now Animagus training was all but over.

Once the Weasleys had gone to bed, Vlad, Ingrid, Harry and Draco - Hermione claimed tiredness - headed over to the wing of the castle Severus and Bertrand were in. Raven greeted the two quite amicably, while Vlad handed Bertrand the letter to read over.

"Dolores Umbridge. Merlin, I'm glad I'm not at Hogwarts this year."

"You know her?"

"Indeed. We attended Hogwarts at the same time, and she was in the same house as myself. Half blood, squib sibling and muggle mother. Her father was, rather bizarrely, a pureblood supremacist, and before Dolores finished Hogwarts her mother and sibling had vanished into the Muggle world, never to be seen again. Even with her own status, Umbridge would mock students with muggle blood. Neither myself or our Head Of House ever really liked her. She left Hogwarts with good grades but few friends."

"And she's known to hate vampires?"

"Any part human creature. Much of the anti werewolf legislation was written by her personally. Vampires, centaurs, werewolves, gonlins... even house elves. All that aren't pure or at least half blood to her are nothing more than a waste of magic."

"So... she's Voldemort in a skirt."

"That's... quite an apt way to put it, actually. Be wary, the woman has very little moral compass and if the Ministry is placing staff in Hogwarts, it's not out of the goodness of their hearts."

Vlad and Ingrid nodded, taking note of the valuable information about who could soon be their teacher. Laying in bed that night, Harry asleep on his chest, Vlad wondered how it was fair for him to deal with one lunatic who hated muggles and creatures, only to get another one possibly being foisted at them for the school year. Taking a few deep breaths saturated with Harry's scent, he forced himself to relax - there was much of the summer holidays to fret during - he had Harry in his arms right now.

-YDHP-

 **Of course, Umbridge can also be referred to as Donald Trump in a cardigan.**

 **All information on Dolores Umbridge was taken from her HP wikia page, I take no credit for inventing her back story.**


	3. Twisted Bloodlines

**Guest - no. Well. Yes. But fifth year brings Umbridge!**

 **I've posted so many things recently since I fell into the HTTYD fandom and can't seem to get out... but here we are! Back to the boys.**

-YDHP-

"You guys have all your homework done _already?"_

Fred and George looked utterly aghast.

"We were separated for a few days. And homework is the only way to avoid my dad sometimes."

"We haven't even started!"

"Well. You have all summer."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Rolling his eyes at the twins, Vlad resumed making notes on the Wolfsbane book Hermione assigned him. Somehow, between learning to be an Animagus and staying top of their year in grades, Hermione had kept working on her personal mission to cure her boyfriend of his lycanthropy-affliction. Since vampires were affected by Wolfsbane too, the Weasleys had no reason to question Vlad studying them since they didn't know about Draco.

They whiled the morning away rather sedately, discussing the 'year of exams' most of them were facing - the fifth years had their OWLs and both Ingrid and the twins had their NEWTs that year.

"They seem scarier than they are because everybody _stresses_ about it so much."

Bill and Charlie were both graduated, had a unique insight into the whole process. Harry nodded in agreement with them, hand casually linked with Vlad's and it was making his whole arm tingle.

"I can see that. Remember Percy for NEWTs? He yelled at first years daily."

"Sounds about right. So, what sub-"

Charlie never finished his question, the wards practically vibrating inside Vlad's head as they permitted someone with one of his portkeys, a slamming sound hitting the ground in the front hallway. Everybody was up instantly, finding a rather confusing sight of George, a woman Vlad assumed was her mother and someone the brand on his chest tingled in recognition of.

"Vlad! Help!"

Even as they moved to seperate the females from the Death Eater, Vlad was confused - the portkey around her neck was keyed to her bloodline, designed to ensure people could escape with their family. The man clearly recognised Vlad, but he hadn't met everyone in the Voldie-enclosure he'd been kidnapped to.

"Ah, the Malfoy embarrassment."

"Yaxley."

'Yaxley' was not easy on the eyes with his hard, blunt features, and an unpleasant smile twisted his thin, lined mouth up. He was relatively tall, and a long, pale blond braid hung down most of his back. Vlad snapped his fingers with a smirk that bound Yaxley with ropes around his chest and arms from shoulders to wrists. Enjoying Yaxley's growl of annoyance, Vlad turned to the newcomers.

"George, are you two alright?"

"Thanks to this. We were just building a cardboard pyramid when all of a sudden this lunatic burst into the house, wand blazing."

"Was he alone?"

George nodded, turning to check on her mother before looking at the amassed crowd.

"Are we crashing a party?"

Draco stepped forward, natural hosting taking over.

"No, they stayed after Harry's birthday party. You two head through there, a house elf will fetch you some tea."

"A what?"

"Mum, come on. Sorry, Muggle in the magic world here."

"We don't judge. I'm Charlie Weasley, the other redheads are my brothers and sister. Come on Gin, leave this lot to the bad guy."

Charlie managed to guide the older Giles woman away and George followed, leaving them with Yaxley still bound, apparently trying to escape but his magic couldn't easily unpick Vlads. He flicked his fingers vaguely, enjoying the way Yaxley almost tipped over.

"Let me out!"

"Nope. You can either tell me what you were doing attacking my friend and her mother, or I can feed you to Ingrid here. Up to you."

Ingrid bared her fangs, the instinctive response to try and back away and Yaxley was no exception as his eyes widened slightly and his legs shook for a split second.

"You don't scare me little boy."

Vlad couldn't show his hand completely, not with the Weasleys there. He also didn't want to risk Yaxley giving him away, so he settled for a silent _stupefy_ charm. Yaxley crumpled to the floor, nobody even slightly inclined to slow his fall.

" _Levicorpus._ Come on, he can stew for a while whilst we find out what's going on."

Like some kind of waxy marionette, Yaxley floated along next to them. George didn't seem too rattled, but her mother had clearly _not_ seen much magic herself and gasped, a hand to her chest.

"He's unconscious, disarmed" Vlad held up the wand he had liberated from the wizard "and bound. You're safe here. Hi, I'm Vlad."

Everyone introduced themselves to a vaguely terrified woman, who eventually introduced herself as "Sally".

"Hold on... Vlad? Isn't he the one-"

"They thought was my brother for a hot minute. Spell mix up."

That set something off in Vlad's mind, looking at Yaxley, then back to Sally.

"Anybody know that spell, incidentally?"

Charlie raised his hand, mentioning that it was the same one used to match dragons to their eggs when a mass nest had to be deconstructed. He stepped closer to Vlad, both turning away from the Giles' for a minute as his voice dropped.

"What are you thinking?"

"That portkey is blood specific. Yaxley should not have been able to touch it."

One red eyebrow raised as he thought, pulling his wand out and turning back to Sally.

"Uh, Mrs Giles. Are you... are you adopted?"

She looked up at them in absolute confusion, shaking her head avidly.

"No! Of course not."

"So... you know who your father is?"

"Absolutely."

Charlie raised his wand and Vlad floated Yaxley closer to George and her mother, everyone else stepping back. A low, steady chant of Latin words later, white and red lines crossed between Sally and George. Vlad and Ingrid. The Weasleys. Then Sally and Yaxley, George and Yaxley.

Then _Vlad and George_. Finally, as though Vlad's mind could not get any more thrown off, a new line connected _him and Sally._

"Wait. _**What?"**_

"Hold still! If you move the lines will shift and I won't be able to read them."

Charlie, the caster, slunk closer to the lines connecting Vlad to George and Sally, leaning closer and eyes widening.

"Uh... according to this, those two there are your mother and sister."

Vlad didn't even hesitate, turning to grab the only portkey connected to Stokely Castle without getting back to his room. The one around Harry's neck. Harry didn't have chance to react, the necklace leaving him behind as Vlad landed heavily back in his home.

"Dad!"

"He's sleeping Master Vlad."

"Then wake him. _Now._ "

Renfield scuttled off at Vlad's harsh tone, a hint of thunder in the air that could have been coincidental, but also quite possibly because Vlad felt white-hot anger rush through his body at the realisation of something shameful and secret pulsing away inside his very DNA.

"Vladdy! What's the meaning of waking me in the middle of the day? Not that-"

"Shut up! This isn't a social visit."

His father recoiled, looking confused by the sudden vitriol from his usually placid son.

"Then what is it?"

"Do you know a woman named Sally Giles?"

Years of practice meant Vlad could tell when his dad was lying, watching his eyes glow yellow as he visibly panicked before answering haughtily.

"Never heard of her."

"Really? So... if I took you to Malfoy Manor right now, she would have no idea who you were?"

A variety of expressions crossed his fathers face, settling on that sort of pleading, placating awkwardness he did when trying to talk himself out of trouble.

"I may have once met somebody by that name."

"Dad. I'm very close to hexing you right now. Anything you want to tell me before I leave?"

The defensive behaviour was Vlad's confirmation, but he needed to see it for real. Using the charm on an actual living (or undead) person wasn't advisable, but he had no choice as he _Accio-_ ed his father, wrapped their hands around the portkey and yanked them both to Malfoy Manor.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"In there. _Now._ "

Vlad pulled his wand to enforce the threat, knowing his father had a bad habit of running away. Even if he couldn't get very far with the sunshine outside and the unknown location. Looking very much like a condemned vampire heading to a stake, he scowled and walked through the doors.

Harry looked relieved to see him back, but Vlad had to turn away from his mate's enchanting eyes to look over at Sally Giles to gauge her reaction. Her wide eyes and mouth dropping open were all the confirmation Vlad needed.

"It's _you!"_

"Ah, hello Sally. It's uh, it's been a long time."

Her eyes slid over to Vlad, the charm having faded but the lines felt burned into his skin as much as the Unbreakable Vow had been.

"Are... are you my son?"

* * *

Not two months ago, Vlad had mentioned not knowing humans and vampires could have children together. However, what Harry had just witnessed was almost undeniably Vlad finding out _he_ was himself a halfling.

Sensing the awkwardness, Harry, Draco, Hermione and the Weasleys made themselves scarce as Vlad, Ingrid, their father and the two Giles girls sorted whatever had gone on out between them. Vlad and Ingrid came back out not much later, a quiet and private conversation with Draco ending in them both leaving with their father for what could have only been a few minutes.

"What happened?"

"They asked if they could unofficially move here. Vlad doesn't want to be anywhere near his dad, and Ingrid doesn't do so well on her own with him."

"Wow. That bad?"

"He's just found out his dad has lied to him his whole life about who his mother is. Who _he_ is. That must be a big deal."

Bill and Charlie - able to apparate - took Sally and George to collect their things, at least for the short term they were becoming guests of Malfoy Manor while they presumably got to know the new addition to their family. Sally Giles must be close to cracking under all the new information available to her that day - she wasn't a Muggle, at the very least she was a squib, Yaxley's daughter that was gotten rid of to hide the shame of.

Then there was her long lost son in her life... who also happened to be the son of _Count Dracula._ Any more and Harry worried her head would explode. Draco and Hermione left to go fill Bertrand and Severus in on everything - **that** would be one hell of a conversation, and Yaxley was tossed into a secure side room to be dealt with later.

When Vlad got back, he immediately sought out Harry, a fierce embrace that Harry naturally returned. There was a noticeable reduction in the tension of his muscles, responding to the comfort of his mate on an instinctive level and Harry was happy to be able to offer such a thing to Vlad.

"Actually, this explains something. Aside from you being a breather loving dweeb."

Ingrid broke the silence, looking almost unconcerned but Harry could see she worried for her little brother. Vlad, eyes red but no tears, turned to her.

 _"What_ does it explain exactly?"

"Us. I'm the anomaly magical vampire. You inherited it from your squib mother. We just happen to be siblings."

"Huh. I guess so. Not that we can _tell_ anybody about that discovery."

"What? Why can't we tell anyone?"

George looked unhappy, and Harry supposed since she was happy to have found her brother it would be a disappointment if now she could tell nobody.

"Because vampires and breathers aren't meant to breed. Vlad's an abomination to vampirekind, and we would both be exiled while you two are killed on principle. Dad would be killed too, but that's _his_ own stupid fault."

Ingrid's surprisingly matter-of-fact answer wasn't exactly encouraging, but Vlad obviously knew everything she had said.

"Ingrid's right. This is a complicated situation, and we have to be careful."

The whole thing was madness, and Harry wasn't sure how Vlad was so **calm** still. When he found out Riddle was his grandfather, Harry had had a bit of a total freakout. He still wasn't quite on board with the fact if he was honest.

"Well if it's about keeping you safe, then I guess I'll deal."

"Thanks George."

There was an undeniable weight in the air between Vlad and Sally - they were mother and son, but they didn't know each other at all.

"Hey George, wanna come play Quidditch?"

"Sure. I'll embarrass you all!"

Harry felt Vlad grab his wrist, silently asking that he not follow as everyone but them, Ingrid and Sally left the room. Ingrid shared a wordless stare with her brother, then sort of shrugged to herself and meandered off in the direction of the Potions lab.

"How do you feel about all of this Sally?"

Harry let go and took a step back when Sally approached Vlad, looking at him with what could only be described as a motherly expression. She stopped short before she reached him.

"I just can't believe it's you. But..."

"I don't bite. I'm a whole lot of human for a vampire... and I guess that's all from you."

The two embraced, a small smile fighting it's way onto Harry's face as he watched the two connect despite the confusion of the day. He was envious for a second, Vlad hadn't lost a mother - at least not a good one, but he _found_ a new one.

Then he shook the jealousy away. Vlad needed a stable, supportive boyfriend not a petulant child who resented things beyond anybody's control. And he was **happy** for how Vlad had discovered the truth of himself.

"What about Yaxley?"

"He's _mine_ to deal with, but he can stay where he is right now. Ugh, this makes him my _grandfather."_

Vlad's hand rubbed at his t-shirt, where the brand on his chest resided. Harry felt a flicker of realisation that Vlad was living proof of everything he had said when Harry found out Riddle was his grandfather. Their mothers had been sired by evil men, darkness ran in their blood but Vlad was _good._ So there was no reason Harry should doubt he could be too.

"I still don't believe I was adopted. That I... what is a _squib_ exactly?"

Vlad and Sally sat down, so Harry took himself over to the snack tray and ate some cake to pass the time. Vlad wanted him there, so he stayed even if Harry thought it would be more prudent to give them privacy.

"Remember how you thought George was a Muggle-born witch, no magical parents but she's magical?"

Sally nodded, staring rapturously at her fifteen year old son.

"A squib is sort of the opposite. Two magical parents, but they themselves aren't magical. It's not uncommon for them to have magical children, it's part genetics and part random chance."

"I see."

"And old pureblood families like Yaxley's would never admit to having a squib. It's honestly a surprise they didn't just.. well... kill you. I mean I'm glad they didn't but still."

"This is all so very strange. I only just got used to George being a witch."

"She's a good one. Honestly, she's brilliant."

"Hmm. And naughty, I've had a few letters."

"She's a _Gryffindor._ We like pranks. And Fred and George Weasley are big fans of hers, plus prank master's in their own right."

Harry remembered George's sorting, where she corrected McGonogall for calling her Georgina before she was even officially a student.

"Is everyone here a Gryffindor like you?"

"Ingrid's a Slytherin. But George's best friends are the twins who got sorted separate."

"Jacob and Jason?"

"She talk about them when she's off school then?"

There was something natural and easy in the way Vlad and Sally conversed, both with obvious affection for George and comfort with each other already. They were even _gossiping_ about George. Now Vlad had _two_ scary sisters, plus Hermione and Ginny.

"Oh yes. Always denies it when I ask if she likes one of them though."

Vlad chuckled, his face brightening and making Harry's heart squeeze tight in his chest.

"Sounds about right."

At some point, it was agreed Sally and Mrs Weasley ought to be introduced. Merlin knows Sally could do with another mother who always had tea, cake and a listening ear on. Draco sent Bubbles the house elf alongside her to the Burrow, an excellent back-up plan for if anybody needed to make an escape. Sally returned a few hours later a great deal calmer, and complaining about too much fruitcake.

The Malfoy table had never looked so full, and they were still down a few missing family members. Harry didn't like that they were absent, he felt like seeing Raven peering up from a high chair would really round the whole atmosphere out. Dinner was quiet and tense, but by the time dessert had neenw cleared away everyone started to relax.

"Dobby, please show these girls to their rooms. If there's anything you need, just call him. He'll pop into the room, so try not to panic."

"It's really very nice of you to let us stay."

"Vlad's family. So that makes you family."

Vlad waited for them and the Weasleys to go to bed, changing into comfortable gear before they caught up with Bertrand and Severus.

"Yaxley is _still here_ _?_ Are you insane?"

"No. I just didn't want the audience when I go interrogate my dear grandpappy in there."

All the comfortable ease had gone, leaving Vlad hard and angry again. The betrayal of his father, protective instinct for Yaxley going after anybody, and that was compounded by it being his _family_ that were in danger.

"This has all been a very surprising few months hasn't it?"

"You're telling me. You stay with your little sister Harry, I have to go protect mine."

Harry caught Vlad's hand before he could leave, shaking his head.

"I don't care how powerful you are. You're not staying locked in a room with a nutcase like him, not when I have a say in the matter. Come on."

Vlad hesitated, but Harry knew it was near impossible for him to deny or reject Harry's presence and eventually his hand tightened around Harry's, head nodding.

"Come on then. Lucky I swiped this Veritaserum from the Potions lab in Voldie's headquarters."

They left before the others could make an argument, though Harry doubted they would be left alone for long they seemed to understand how deeply personal this was for Vlad. Harry sympathized - Riddle was Harry's personal mission.

-YDHP-

 **Whew, having written George in two school years ago and only now having this come out was tough. I love Vlad and George's sibling relationship so much!**


	4. Past Failings

**BlueAutumn - glad you enjoy so much!**

 **You - thank you for pointing that out! I must have gone wrong uploading it and not noticed... I have now rectified this so it ought to be in crossovers again next week!**

-YDHP-

Heart pounding hot, Vlad put his wand back in his pocket, cancelled the glamour on his hand and once he and Harry were in the room with only Yaxley and themselves, he removed his t-shirt to expose the Dark Mark. Despite now knowing he was half breather, Vlad felt his Dracula side pulse vindictively inside him.

"Hmm. An ennervate would wake him, but this is far more satisfying."

Yaxley bolted awake, spluttering and shaking the invisible sensation of ice water from himself. His eyes found Harry and Vlad, glaring hotly.

"Release me!"

"Yeah... not gonna happen. Now, this can go several ways. You can speak freely. I could hypnotise answers out of you. I can delve into your mind and find what I want... or I can Veritaserum you. I warn you, if I Veritaserum you it'll be in front of our boss. Maybe even everyone else, so think carefully about who you want to hear your secrets."

Yaxley sneered, still trying to break his restraints.

"You couldn't get into my mind if I laid out a welcome mat you insolent brat."

"You think Occlumency works against vampires? Wow, what does Voldie teach you at Death Eater sunday school?"

"How dare you talk of the Dark Lord that way! Show some respect, you wouldn't be that brave-"

"To his face? Oh I was, why do you think he kept me away from everyone so much?"

Vlad was sort of lying - he _could_ break through almost any Occlumency barrier, but it was hard work. However, Yaxley was rattled and that would weaken his mind shields. Focusing on surface thoughts gave him just enough indications of how to unsettle the man further.

"Yeah, I've been in his head too. He never felt a thing."

Yaxley's eyes turned to Harry, who was watching the whole thing with a degree of curiosity written across his beautiful face. Voldemort's desire to have Harry Potter turned to the dark side was common knowledge enough amongst his inner circle, so Harry was as off limits as Vlad himself.

"I'm waiting for your answer. I think it was polite of me to give you options."

"You don't scare me."

"Alright, fine. Don't say I didn't give you a choice in the matter."

Closing his eyes, Vlad focused his budding Legilimency into a streamlined, concentrated arrow and pushed it toward Yaxley. His Occlumency barriers were shoddy, fell like wet paper and Vlad could access his innermost thoughts and feelings. It made him feel _dirty_ just to be in there, searching only for memories that felt like Sally, laced with shame and disgust in Yaxley's mind.

After a quick scan to see if Yaxley had any inside information, he was satisfied the man was acting alone in his venture to wipe Sally and George out, the evidence of his siring a squib. Vlad pulled himself out of Yaxley's head, shaking the cloying sense of sticky darkness from his skin even though nothing visible was there.

"Vlad? Are you alright?"

"Mm. Not fun."

Harry's arm twitched, making to reach for Vlad but they had an audience not privy to their relationship. As far as they all knew, Vlad had a vampire _girlfriend_ hidden away somewhere. Yaxley was staring blankly, showing that Vlad had accidentally mixed hypnosis with Legilimency. Snapping his fingers, the glassy eyes blinked and hardened once again.

"So, your wife couldn't bring herself to kill the baby. What would all your fellow death munchers say if they knew you couldn't control your wife? If they knew you made a squib baby?"

The words felt terrible on his tongue, the feigned amusement and lack of respect for human life feeling like bile in his throat but if - _if -_ Yaxley was going to leave alive, Vlad wanted him to have nothing to report back. Even now he wasn't sure it was possible, as Yaxley knew where Harry was hiding, and about the accumulated people in Malfoy Manor.

"Every family has it's black sheep."

"Isn't one of your line Arthur Weasley's grandmother? Meaning _you're_ related to them."

A haughty expression crossed his face - Vlad expected Yaxley had had to defend himself from that before.

"Poison fruit of a pruned limb from our family tree."

"If you say so. Now... what do we do with you? If I let you live, you'll try and go after George and her mother again and I'm quite fond of the little spitfire. If I kill you, people qwill look for you. Obviously you can't stay here, as fun as it would be to leave you with Draco on the full" Voldemort knew Draco was a werewolf, he wasn't giving new information "or let Ingrid practice torture curses on you."

Harry cocked his head, looking at Vlad's branded chest and hand.

"You could always turn him in to his boss. Didn't you say the young ones had a hands off policy? How will you-know-who take hearing Yaxley disobeyed a direct order?"

"Not well I imagine."

That hit home for the prisoner, knowing he would pay dearly for his behaviour. Vlad raised a hand, threatening to press it to the Mark on his chest and Yaxley visibly wriggled, shaking his head.

"Let's not be hasty here."

"You're right. I wouldn't call him here anyway."

Vlad dropped his hand and Yaxley visibly relaxed, sneer back in place like an automatic, default expression.

"You don't have the guts."

"You think? I do have a portkey _he_ gave me for emergencies. First things first though... you can't be allowed to remember all of this."

He had never used his powers for this before, mostly only gentle persuasion or small transgressions. But Yaxley couldn't have all the information he did, especially if Vlad was about to deliver him back to Riddle. Wiping everything of Malfoy Manor from his mind, Vlad left Yaxley unconscious and picked up his shirt.

"What, just like that you're going to Riddle?"

"I have to. If I don't bring it up first he might decide to look deeper into it. I can't have him finding out about them and me."

Harry frowned, but eventually seemed to understand.

"Don't be gone long."

"Trust me, I don't plan to prolong time with that psychopath."

Now Vlad just had to get _out_ of the Manor, as his wards would prevent the portkey in his pocket from working - he didn't make it, so it was useless within the fortress of protection.

"This should keep him from waking up on the way."

Vlad poured a half-dose of a light sleep aid down Yaxley's throat, massaging beneath his jaw to make him swallow and cringing the entire time. He buttoned his shirt, cast a cleaning charm over it to ensure Greyback couldn't smell Harry on him if the mongrel was there and cast a concealment charm on Yaxley's floating, unconscious body.

"I won't be long. Promise."

"I know."

Harry smiled, making Vlad's stomach do somersaults as his angular, handsome face lit up.

"I'm just going to leave, tell them I'll explain what I can when I get back. Guess I'm gonna have to out myself about Riddle to them sooner than expected."

Harry nodded, opening the door and hissing the coast was clear. Vlad held on to Harry's necklace, needing it to get back, then headed straight for the main door to leave Malfoy Manor. He crossed the immaculately kept garden, bracing himself mentally to face Riddle again. His Occlumency barriers were paramount, but thankfully solid. As he reached the gates, Vlad didn't look back in case anybody could be trying to come after him, sliding through the metal as though it were not even there.

As soon as he was outside Malfoy Manor, Vlad could feel the protection in place but he couldn't even _see_ the building. There was a fine line between visible and accessible, where someone could see the Manor but not be permitted entry, but that was only because Vlad didn't want to disturb any of the local wildlife with the more potent magic and worked to keep it like a capsule encompassing the Manor.

"Here we go."

He said to nobody in particular, grabbing hold of Yaxley's arm and murmuring "Voldemort" to his portkey. Vlad's own were a little smoother, the journey unpleasant as he tossed his newfound grandpa to the ground unceremoniously. He didn't move, knowing they would be found quickly.

"Ah, Vladimir."

"Riddle. I'm disappointed. You can't keep your lackeys under control."

Vlad's skin crawled as Riddle swam into the room like oil on water, everything about him screaming unnatural, evil. And that was coming from a _Dracula._

"Yaxley was not under my orders to do anything."

"He went after someone under _my_ protection, _and_ her mother. Directly against what we agreed."

Vlad held up his hand, the four lines crossing it to match Riddle's own. Of course, Riddle kept his glamoured to ensure nobody was certain he _had_ agreed to it. Severus had performed the Vow magic for them, and so nobody else had been present.

"He will be sufficiently disciplined. Soon he will learn not to suffer my displeasure again. Stay a while won't you? There is some... entertainment to be had. And of course you're welcome to join in taking out your displeasure on Yaxley here."

"I'll pass. Just keep your minions in line, or _I will._ "

Vlad sounded much more confident than he actually was, feeling unsettled by the towering spectre he was doing his best to pretend he worked for.

"He won't remember much, I wiped his mind. So don't be surprised if he's more of an incompetent moron than usual... though with the pedigree of some of your followers, I won't hold my breath for that to be new."

"I really must insist you come and see the entertainment. You may leave immediately after, if you wish."

He knew what this was - Riddle wanted to show off that Vlad was there, and to test how Vlad reacted to whatever depravity was happening. At least Riddle hadn't asked about his legs.

"Fine. You can take the dead weight, I'm bored of carrying him."

Vlad sent a mental apology to Harry, hoping he wasn't too worried. They headed up one of the dozens of winding staircases, almost a dizzying spiral to come out along the top floor. Yaxley was essentially dragged by Riddle, face scraping on uneven bits of floor and leaving a trail of blood Vlad could smell, turning his already sensitive stomach to near-sickness.

The next smell was worse - blood, despair and pain amongst several other things Vlad didn't want to contemplate. A dozen or so death eaters were torturing Muggles, and it was a horrendous thing to look at. Swallowing back revulsion, he pulled his wand and cast an _Immobulus_ charm, freezing the centre of the room.

"This is entertainment? How pathetic."

"Your whole species thrives on this."

The not-frozen audience turned to Vlad in irritation, though none dared speak with Riddle stood right next to him.

"They can't even fight back! If you asked my dad, you would hear that I constantly fight with him about this too. Of course, if you go _near_ my dad I'll tear you limb from limb but that is neither here nor there."

"Surely you can appreciate the sport of Muggles."

 _"This_ isn't sport, this is pulling the legs off a dead fly. Pathetic. Pick your best duellists and I'll tear them down one by one. _That's_ a sport. However, I have other places to be right now."

"That's right you cowardly brat" Vlad didn't recognise the jeering cat caller in the crowd "big talk, no back up!"

Vlad focused on him, clenching a fist at his side and watching the man clutch his throat, scratching to try and loosen invisible fingers crushing his airway closed. Those around him backed away as he dropped to his knees, turning purple before Vlad let go.

"Want to say that to my face? No? Thought not."

He collapsed to the ground gasping for air, coughing and spluttering while everyone turned away. No honour amongst thieves or death eaters it seemed.

"Like I said, places to be. I'll make _sport_ out of you some other time."

Vlad left before he was sick from the smell, heading out of the enclosure in the middle of nowhere and turning back to look at it from the outside. It was glamoured to look like an abandoned factory, barbed wire fences and a "warning: dogs" sign (well, if they counted Greyback...). Through the glamour, it looked like a huge encampment made of heavy bricks, humming with a dark aura of magic.

He got a safe distance away before vomiting into a dying bush surrounded by weeds, collapsing onto the ground nearby. Vlad came from a long line of pure evil - on _both_ sides - but what he saw in there still turned his stomach. Checking there was nobody around he cleaned up the floor with a spell, then himself with another. Clutching Harry's portkey kept him strong enough to stand up, thinking only of getting back to his mate.

The portkey dropped him into the foyer, his legs giving out from under him again.

"Vlad? You're back!"

"Where in the name of Lucifer did you go?"

Ingrid and Harry both dragged him to his feet, Harry the one to receive Vlad's steel-tight hug. He needed to soak in the scent of his mate to chase away the bad, and Harry happily obliged. Next came the tough part - he had to explain himself to George and Sally, plus the Weasleys.

* * *

"So... you're dating Harry and you're pretending to follow the bad guy, but both of these things are secret. Am I getting this right?"

"That's right George."

Harry didn't envy Vlad having to explain his near death experiences or the double agent deal he had carefully built with Riddle. He opened his shirt to show the scar, the Dark Mark and poor Sally Giles looked completely thrown by everything. Harry almost gave her a calming draught.

"Ok then. What about Yaxley?"

"I gave him back to his boss. He's in trouble, and we have ways of protecting you from him. Even during school time, if you don't want to actually go into hiding."

He drifted in and out as Vlad spoke, mind mostly on the emotional state of his boyfriend when he returned. Riddle's domain couldn't have been a _pleasant_ experience.

"You're all so young, especially you George. I don't want you growing up around all this war."

Bill Weasley took that one, the oldest there and perhaps appealing as one adult to another.

"George is safer here or at Hogwarts than most places. And even if you pulled her out now, the war would come for her eventually. All that would change is less time she spent learning magic. Look, Vlad and Harry saved _our_ sister when they were twelve. They'll certainly keep _his_ safe now."

"Really?"

"Yep. From a really _really_ big snake."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. Samael was as much a part of him as Vlad was. He was so much more than 'a big snake'. Still... Sally Giles may not quite accept Harry's bigger familiar. Vlad's eyes flicked over to him, but he stayed silent and just smiled encouragingly.

"What's with the scar? I mean, it looks like a big version of Harry's."

"It's the wand gesture that comes with the killing curse. It can't _kill_ a vampire, but it still leaves the cut and the scar, assuming you survive."

"Guess it's lucky you were vamp enough to survive it."

Harry and Vlad both looked up in surprise at George.

"Good point."

"Hadn't thought of that."

"Boys! They never think."

Harry caught a light smirk on Ingrid's face. She liked Vlad's other sister. He didn't think it _**technically**_ made Ingrid and George related... it made his head hurt to think about. Their day didn't get any stranger, but then Harry felt at this point nothing would truly **shock** him anymore.

Vlad practically crawled into Harry's arms that night in bed, seeking comfort from his mate and Harry never turned him down for that. Vlad's hand fisted in his sleep t-shirt, as though scared Harry would vanish if he let go. Harry knew Vlad was powerful in a multitude of ways Harry might never be, but he seemed to draw much of his strength from Harry, did most things _for_ Harry.

"I love you."

He murmured it against Harry's neck repeatedly, eventually falling asleep like that. It wasn't spectacularly comfortable, but Vlad slept with Harry's heavy self on him all the time. Harry could suffer one nights uncomfortable sleep position if it meant Vlad felt safer.

The next morning at early breakfast, Draco and Vlad talked quietly before the Giles females were up.

"What are we doing with your mother?"

"How so?"

"I mean, she can stay here if you want her to, but we'll have to tell her more and hope she doesn't go stir crazy here away from everyone. Or we could work out how to keep her safe from afar."

"Oh. Yeah. I've already considered that."

Draco and Hermione both looked over at the two of them, Vlad picking at his porridge while Harry squeezed more mushrooms into his breakfast wrap.

"Want to share?"

"I was thinking emergency portkey, alarm charms and..." Vlad hesitated, looking at Harry "Fidelius Charm on her house."

"You mean the charm that failed to protect _my_ parents?"

Vlad recoiled at the venom in his tone, placing his spoon down and putting his hands in his lap.

"Well, that was down to _who_ the secret keeper was. I was planning to be my mothers, so I thought that might be safe."

Harry took a deep breath, knowing Vlad had considered Harry's feelings in it but he wouldn't fault the vampire for wanting to protect his family.

"Sorry. You're right. That is safer."

"I need to ask my... mother" Vlad still struggled to say it, clearly adjusting "what she wants to do."

"Speaking of. They are almost here."

Ingrid pointed to the door, and not ten seconds later George practically jumped through it followed by Sally.

"Wow, you guys beat me up! That's unusual."

"We are usually up early. Except Ingrid. It's a harbinger of the apocalypse for Ingrid to be awake early. Ow!"

Ingrid hexed Fred, who pouted as he rubbed the sore spot. Both George's laughed at him, the female George landing in the seat on Vlad's other side. Whether the elves noticed her odd habits or she was just lucky, the young Giles immediately spooned marmalade onto her bacon and eggs, then crammed that into pancakes with maple syrup.

"Do you even know how to _do_ the Fidelius charm little bro?"

Ingrid brought the conversation back to what they were discussing before shortly, sipping what Harry could smell was coffee.

"No. But I know someone who does."

Harry knew who he meant immediately - Sirius. He had been the original Secret Keeper, meaning he had performed the Fidelius Charm.

"What's a Fidelius?"

"Its... complicated George. I'll explain later."

"Ok big brother."

Vlad faltered, then smiled. Harry felt a flutter at the expression, loving the happiness on his face. Given that he and Draco were newly big brothers too, he understood the new feelings. Harry wanted to go play with Raven now, but Severus was still staying out of the way until the Weasleys left.

"Well, as much as we love our pilgrimage here, some of us have jobs to be getting back to. Give me a buzz with this" Vlad caught a strange coin from Bill, examining it with avid curiosity "if you need someone to apparate you around. I'll hold on to Fred's necklace, since him and George are never apart enough to need both."

"Oh. Thanks Bill."

The two elder Weasleys distributed hugs and affectionate shoulder punches amongst them, Charlie even bravely (in Harry's mind) bear hugging Ingrid from behind. He ran off immediately after putting her down, followed by a death glare but Harry was almost sure there was some amusement or even sentiment or affection in her face. He knew from Vlad that Ingrid enjoyed Charlie's company, because he wasn't the slightest bit interested in her physically and it was regreshing not to be 'drooled over' sometimes.

"Idiots. I'll be in the lab."

Ingrid vanished off to play with her Potions kit, free to do as she pleased with her time. Draco and Hermione excused themselves to join her, leaving Harry, Vlad, Weasleys and Giles' around the table.

"Speaking of jobs... I can't really hide out here forever. I have classes next week!"

"I know. I need to send a letter, but we are working on how you can be safe away from here. Particularly when term starts back up."

Sally nodded, watching as the Weasley clan prepared to head to the library to catch up on their homework.

"That's a good idea, I've not finished all mine yet."

"Guess you should come to the library too then mini me. Don't worry, none of the books here bite."

George jumped up laughing, following her namesake and his twin brother.

"Stop scaring my mum. Can she come too?"

"Sure. Vlad will probably know where theres some books on squibs or rubber ducks. I don't know what Muggles read. Ignore me."

"Always do."

"Thanks Gin."

Vlad and Harry went along, and Harry smiled to himself as Vlad fell into 'big brother' mode and sat with George and Ginny to help with their homework. Harry pulled down the books Hermione wanted them to help her get through, then wondered how accurate they were compared to Vlad's own collection.

"Hey Vlad, can I borrow your books?"

"Sure. Here."

Sally watched on, perplexed, when Vlad handed over his shrunken-down backpack to Harry. It fit neatly in the palm of his hand, looking like some kind of doll clothing to her he expected. Her face cleared somewhat when it was enlarged again, then dropped back to surprise when Harry dug through it with his arm in up to the shoulder.

"Magical expansion charms. How else do you think we live out of one trunk for a whole school year?"

"I suppose that makes sense. Like Mary Poppins?"

The Weasleys looked at Sally like she had declared allegiance to Voldemort.

"Mary who?"

Vlad rolled his eyes, nodding to say Harry could explain.

"Mary Poppins. It's a movie about a woman with this bag that has everything in. But it doesn't look like it would fit."

"Oh right. Sounds mad. I'll stick to Babbitty Rabbity and her cackling pot."

Harry found what he wanted, pulling out the creature books Vlad had 'acquired' through Bertrand from Knockturn Alley. Vlad indicated the two oldest ones, writing almost faded by time.

"I've not read those two yet, so be careful."

"Will do."

Harry pulled over some parchment and a self-inking quill, jotting down notes as he began to compare wizard werewolf books to Vlad's creature ones. He skimmed over the part about curing werewolf bites - it only cured the injury, not the affliction itself - and turned to the next chapter.

"Uh, Vlad? Do me a favour and tell me if this makes sense to a biter."

He pushed the book over to Vlad, watching his eyes widen as he got to the part Harry found.

"I'm going to get a second opinion. I won't be long."

Clutching the tome to his chest, Vlad hopped out of his chair and left to presumably find either Bertrand or Ingrid and Hermione.

"Why are you studying werewolves?"

Ginny quizzed, but it was George Giles who answered.

"Some of it applies to vampires too. They have common ancestors in almost every legend."

That suited Harry - ready made excuses.

"Plus, Voldemort likes to recruit dark creatures, so we need to know how to deal with them. He already has a handful of werewolves on his side."

George frowned, then shrugged.

"At least they are only dangerous on a full moon."

His heart thrummed with anticipation as Vlad went off to investigate. He sincerely hoped it would be true, for the sake of his brother in all but blood. Plus his godfather.

Vlad came back twenty minutes later no longer holding the book, offered Harry only a smile as he resumed studying with Ginny and George. Itching for information, Harry went back to studying the other books he had in front of him.

"Is it lunch yet? I've been doing homework for at least a week."

"You drama queen. I've been here the whole time too."

"Both of you shut up."

The twins fell silent under Ginny's glare, suddenly rapturous for their homework again.

"Actually, it is lunch now. It's amazing Harry hadn't told us yet."

"Why?"

"He gets hungry like clockwork."

"Makes sense. He's built!"

"I'm right here ya know."

Harry flushed as Sally sized him up - he _was_ her _sons_ boyfriend. At least she hadn't shown a jot of care for Vlad's sexuality.

"I didn't used to be. I was skinny and scrawny. Plus I'm still shorter than Vlad, I just filled out."

"And then some."

Vlad's eyes dragged over his clothed form, adding to the warmth in his cheeks and his belly. He liked the way Vlad looked at him. Clearing his throat, Harry indicated the door.

"Are we going to lunch?"

"Yes!"

"Please!"

Lunch was more animated than breakfast had been, even Sally appearing more relaxed. Vlad kept glancing up to the owl hole, even though he couldn't realistically expect an answer that day if he wrote to Sirius and Remus. Still, the prospects were important and exciting.

"Everyone game for pizza for dinner? I have a craving."

"Ugh. Gryffindors and pizza. Fine."

Ingrid waved a dismissive hand at Draco, eyes on a book in her hand now she was done eating.

"You can always go hunt a wild animal."

"Eh. Pass."

Sally was carefully placed behind shield charms when she wanted to watch them practice duelling, Vlad and Ingrid making short work as a pair against Hermione and Draco, then the Weasley twins.

"Man, you two are terrifying together. Aren't you glad they are on our side?"

"The Slytherin and the double agent with a Dark Mark."

"Sounds like an Agatha Christie."

"A what? Stop talking gibberish George"

"Yeah, that's what we have Latin magic spells for."

Harry traded places with Ingrid, then had Ginny and George take turns trying to break through their shield charms. Harry noticed a huge difference in how he and Vlad worked together from the previous year, likely down to the evolution of their relationship.

"Blimey, you may be young but you've both got raw power coming in. Focus on channelling it rather than just brute force and you two will be fire crackers."

Ginny and George high-fived, then dropped to the ground almost in sync. Sally, new to all of it, panicked.

"George! Are you alright?"

"Just a little magical expenditure. Nothing this can't fix."

Vlad knelt next to the girls, holding out chunks of chocolate to them and they were both on their feet quickly with grins on their face.

"Let's go again!"

"Not against us. If you want to hex each other silly go ahead, but be careful. Your magical cores are more sensitive at your age."

"Boring!"

Harry could already see the two little sisters would get on famously. He had a split-second crazy urge to take them to meet Raven, feeling brotherly pride for the baby even though he hadn't known how that would feel before.

They whiled away the afternoon and evening, then spent the early night with Bertrand and Severus again. Harry basked in the quiet joy of time with Raven, feeling her parents watch he and Draco closely. Vlad and Bertrand were discussing the earlier books in depth.

"This would be quite something if it turns out to be true. I've never heard of it before, I must confess."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough."

In hindsight, they probably should have warned George the serial killer was innocent. She was very surprised to see Sirius Black, escaped mass murderer in Malfoy Manor alongside the Defence teacher who left suddenly.

"Ah. Hello."

"Professor Lupin?"

"I'm not your teacher anymore Miss George."

"Did you know Vlad's my brother?"

That turned confused looks to the vampire from the newly arrived adults, but Vlad waved it off.

"Long story. Sirius, I need everything you know about the Fidelius Charm. Remus, _you_ are needed over that way."

"You got it. Get a quill."

Harry left Vlad - he didn't want to hear about the charm that failed to save his parents - and went after Remus, leading him to the Potions lab. Ingrid and Hermione were waiting, Draco holding a cloth with healing balm on to his elbow.

"What's this about? Your letter sounded urgent."

"It is. Harry might have stumbled on to a cure for bite induced lycanthropy."

-YDHP-

 **Whew, this chapter took every bit of effort I had to overcome writers block this week. But! It's finished at last.**


	5. Blood Magic

**Faith - I love the idea of someone enjoying this so much that they scream incoherently. Glad you are loving this!**

 **You - yeah, I didn't know it wasn't in crossovers til you told me. As for the weekly updates... yeah, it is really tough to maintain! Some weeks it is literally finished five minutes before it's uploaded, sometimes I stare at a blank editor wishing for words even though I know exactly what I want to convey, but my brain isn't doing the wording.**

 **You always know someone hasn't seen all of Young Dracula when they inbox me asking where I got the idea to make Vlad a half-human...**

-YDHP-

"Are you serious?"

"Deadly."

"You think I'd have two of you smelly, vile creatures in one room if it weren't important?"

Ingrid was leant against the table she worked at, examining the information in the book rather than look over at Remus.

"I'm assuming Greyback turned him too?"

"You could ask him yourself Ingrid."

"Hush. Busy. Answer."

"Yes, Greyback turned me."

Remus didn't seem put out by Ingrid's attitude, but then he only had eyes for Harry. Harry had a childish urge to hug his werewolf godfather, though he knew he barely knew the man.

"Good. Because we need the blood of your Alpha if you were turned by a born, or if you were turned by a bitten we need the blood of that one. Saves the trip if you were both turned by the same wolf."

Harry's stomach dropped. That had only one logical step in acquiring it. He wanted to save his brother, and Remus, from the affliction. Remus had aged five years in one, the toll of his condition clear.

But he didn't want to send Vlad back to Riddle.

"Who was Greyback turned by, I wonder."

Draco was leant over the book with Ingrid, their distaste for each others scent not halting their work.

"The size of him, I'm banking on him being turned by a pureblood born."

"Is there a chance this cure is dangerous?"

"Obviously. This books older than my dad, and written by vampires who wouldn't have cared if it did kill them. But since bitten wolves are more feral and less controllable, this batty old alchemist captured a dozen all turned by either the same Alpha or each other, and started playing with cures. She wrote this book."

"Only a dozen?"

"Most bitten wolves are also wizards and witches. Breathers don't often survive the bite, assuming they don't just get eaten."

Remus chewed his lip, a remnant of his habit of chewing quills Harry had seen in the photo albums he had from the Marauders school days.

"Then you're testing it on me first. I've not got five years without it. Draco has at least _thirty,_ longer if he's always on Wolfsbane."

Harry didn't know the man well enough to account for the tug in his chest at the idea of losing him.

"Remus..."

"You know I won't turn you down. The problem is... we need someone who's not a biter or mongrel to brew this. It contains everyone's favourite ingredient..."

Harry finished Ingrid's sentence.

"Transylvanian Wolfsbane."

"Bingo. This is all speculation until my little brother drains the mutt who bit you two "

Remus furrowed his brow, looking at Ingrid pensively.

"Why Vlad?"

"You might say he has... access."

"Access to Fenrir Greyback? What is he, a death eater now?"

Harry hesitated just a little too long, and Remus' quick mind leapt to the wrong conclusion about a right fact.

"Harry..."

"It's a very, _very_ long story."

"You think Harry would still date him if he really had turned?"

 ** _"Ingrid!_** "

"What? The only reason he doesn't know yet is that you showered this morning."

Harry buried his face in his hands, listening to Ingrid casually disperse information to Remus because she could, because she knew Remus couldn't do a thing with the information - he was in hiding with Sirius.

"So... you and he-"

"Well you knew, didn't you?"

"He told you about that?"

"Yeah. But he also said he doesn't hold resentment, because you were misguided but looking out for me. And he has me now, so Vlad's happy with that."

"And you're happy with him?"

"Disgustingly so. It's gross, it really is."

Rolling his eyes, Harry still found himself smiling fondly toward Ingrid.

"Thanks Ingrid. Yes Remus, I am. I love him, he loves me. And he would _literally_ die for me, he's tried to before."

It rolled off his tongue easily, naturally. Vlad was such an absolute, the other half of him and Harry didn't struggle with that at all anymore. He had been scared it would be too much, too intense, but it wasn't. It was _easy._

"Well... I'm happy for you."

"Thank you Remus. Really, I mean that."

The older werewolf smiled, showing the lines on his face but the happiness seemed pretty genuine.

"Sirius can get hold of the Wolfsbane for you, since that strain isn't something you can just buy in any old store."

"Good. Assuming Vlad doesn't talk him to death asking about the Fidelius charm."

Ingrid finished making her notes from the book, pinning the information up on the wall to avoid it being splashed by ingredients. The book was closed and put up on the bookshelf, a marker sticking from the top of the chapter the cure was in.

"Better go talk to Vlad."

They all headed out, finding a frazzled looking Sirius and Vlad with ink stains on his fingers and a parchment sheet crammed with his messy, rushed writing. At the bottom was a more neat script, something Latin and complex with what looked like Arithmancy homework all around it. Harry assumed that was the actual incantation.

"So... we think we have the cure sussed."

Vlad twisted in his seat, pausing to look at Harry with a smile before turning eyes to his sister.

"I hear a but coming."

"We need their sires blood."

"Meaning... Fenrir Greyback. Peachy. I can't go back so soon, Riddle will get suspicious."

"It's too close to the full anyway, there's a specific time in the cycle it needs to be administered."

"I'll swing by the Death Star after the moon. I don't want to tangle with Greyback this close to his transformation if I don't have to. He _reeks._ Worse than you two together."

He indicated Draco and Remus, then mimed holding his nose.

"Cheers Vlad. You don't exactly smell pretty yourself."

"Hey, I'm going to risk my life so you stop howling at the moon. I get to insult you."

Harry felt the dread come back, even though he knew realistically Vlad had to keep up appearances with Riddle regardless.

"Fine."

Draco pouted petulantly, crossing his arms until Hermione gave him _the look._

"What's my time frame Ingrid? How long will the brew take, when do you need blood by to ensure the lunar cycle is right?"

Ingrid flicked through her notes, words more disjointed and distracted than usual for her, the vampiress generally clear spoken even when she wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.

"Three days brewing before the blood gets added to stew the Wolfsbane... needs to be done on the very mid point of the cycle. So... thirteen days."

"Let's hope that's a lucky number. Least Riddle won't question me picking a fight with the mongrel."

Sirius had been watching the whole interaction with ever-growing confusion, finally clicking.

"Are you saying you spend time with V- with you know who?"

"He thinks I'm a death eater. I have to."

Sirius immediately looked to Vlad's distinctly bare forearms. Rolling his eyes, Vlad unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open, revealing scar and brand with a sigh.

"I'm getting real sick of having to strip all the time."

He shrugged the shirt back on, waiting for the explosion.

"Harry! He's... he's..."

"My boyfriend and I trust him. I'm not asking you to trust him Sirius... but I'm asking you to trust me."

Vlad practically lit up when Harry grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together and feeling his hand tingle in recognition of the vampire.

"Your b- hang on, you're _gay?_ I can't believe it!"

Harry shrugged, squeezing Vlad's hand.

"I'm with Vlad. I don't really care if that makes me gay... he makes me happy."

"He's a vampire."

"I'm aware."

Sirius seemed to deflate, then looked behind him to Remus, communicating silently, then back at the two teenagers.

"Guess you two are pretty set. He makes you happy?"

"He does."

Vlad squeezed his hand, smile playing along the edge of his mouth.

"Not much more I can ask for. I'm watching you Dracula."

"That's creepy, I'm too young for you."

Everyone snickered lightly as Sirius took on a look of confusion, then shook it off. In a rather dog like manner.

"Fair point. So... you're playing a death eater but-"

"I'm on Harry's side. _Always_ Harry's side. I couldn't go against him if I wanted to, but I'll never want to."

Sirius nodded, eyes still fixing on the spot Vlad's brand resided.

"Then why?"

"Voldemort wanted to recruit me. He was willing to go to pretty extreme lengths to do so, and that meant I could assure the safety of my friends and family. Journeyed to the dark side and all I got was this ugly tattoo."

* * *

Being around Remus Lupin and Sirius Black was uncomfortable at best for Vlad, with their suspicions and their questions. But... they were important to Harry, a link to the parents he no longer had. Vlad couldn't bedrudge him that if he wanted to, especially having recently found his own shiny new parent.

"So how will this work?"

Leaving Harry to spend time with his godfathers while they were visiting, Vlad sat to explain the mechanics of the Fidelius charm to his mother.

"Basically... Yaxley could have his face pressed against your living room window and not see you in there. The secret is tied to me and me alone."

"But how will I be able to invite people over?"

"I'll write you some special notes that let you let people in, but they'll only work from me as the secret keeper. There will also be special alarm charms around your house to warn if someone magical is close by, for which you use _this_ to get away."

Vlad handed her the charm he picked, the white half of a yin yang symbol. He kept the black half for himself - the dark and the light, the balance Sally Giles offered him in his very DNA.

"It's password activated, all you need to do is touch it and say 'escape' and it'll bring you here, where nobody can get to you."

"Then what?"

"Then... we go from there. Honestly? I think I'm overdoing it, but I would rather be too sure than not sure enough. If Yaxley comes near you again, he won't get a third chance."

Sally turned the portkey charm over in her hands, then slid it over her neck to join the various beaded jewellery already there. George admired it, then beamed at Vlad. He liked being a big brother.

"And George?"

"Already has her necklace. Plus the twins" Vlad indicated the Weasley twins currently pestering Black and Lupin for prank ideas "are great at distractions. George will be safe at Hogwarts, I swear."

"I suppose if there was anybody I could trust to protect her, it's her big brother."

Vlad couldn't help but glow from the compliment, the trust his own mother placed in him.

"Thank you."

"So... when do we put all this into action?"

"Once I'm done studying this charm. There won't be any point doing it if it's even a little bit wrong, and it's not easy."

"Then... shouldn't you get someone older?"

Vlad shrugged, chewing his quill.

"Not to be vain, but there aren't many people more powerful than me that I've encountered. I would just feel better knowing it's my magic that protects you."

George listened in, eyes wide and round like saucers.

"Imagine what you'll be like after you get your second power spurt!"

"I try not to. Being a vampire, mine's due any day now rather than between sixteen and seventeen. Plus some vampires get a power boost on their eighteenth birthday... it's a daunting prospect. Maybe it's in the blood, since you're pretty powerful yourself George."

"I am?"

"Yep."

"Well, I **am** a Giles. Like you! Oh, I just realised something."

"Which is?"

George liberated some parchment from Vlad's pile of it, scrawling something along the parchment.

"Your old name is in your new name. Vl-Adam-Ir!"

"Huh. Never noticed that. Kinda cool."

Sally watched the two interact, something like relief in her eyes and Vlad understood it. The magic of finding each other could easily have burnt out if they didn't get along, if they were just too different but something about the three of them clicked. Vlad looked down at the notes, knowing he had a lot to study up on in between acquiring blood for a possible lycanthropy cure.

"I better get to studying this then."

"Yeah, mum wants to be back at work soon!"

Vlad chuckled, setting himself up with a few snacks and a glass of pumpkin juice while Ginny and George went out to play Quidditch, undoubtedly scaring the pants off Sally when she first saw them soar through the air on what was essentially a charmed piece of wood.

He felt Harry come closer, instincts recognising the presence of his mate as the wizard sank down in a seat next to him.

"How's the studying coming?"

"Not bad. Complicated spell, I'm honestly amazed Pettigrew had the magic to pull it off. Though I guess if he managed to become an animagus, he has some magical strength."

Vlad's own words sparked something in his head, remembering the occurrences that made him wonder about animagi and vampires. If he wasn't all biter, could his human half be capable of the transformation? Would he lose it transforming? Vlad wasn't sure his feelings about the form lurking beneath his skin, as it made virtually no sense for him to be.

But still the feeling haunted him. Burned away waiting to be realised, pushed him to crave fire in his veins, his life, even his _food._ Swallowing a little drool at the thought of adding hot sauce to _everything_ at dinner, Vlad turned his mind back to Fidelius. There would be time to explore the rest when his mother was safe.

Harry's fingers crept along the table top, pretending to be sly about stealing one of Vlad's little cake-biscuit things the Malfoy elves had made. They were sweet and moreish, tasting of exotic fruits and leaving one happier than before they ate it regardless of the situation. Vlad left him to it, rather than remind him that Vlad would be hard-pushed to turn Harry down for anything.

Once he understood the equations that went into the inner workings of the spell (thank you Arithmancy) Vlad grasped the rest fairly easily, confident in his capability to perform the magic and protect his mothers home.

"I'll get hold of Bill tomorrow... you could be home in time for tea."

"Wait. You should take us. You never know if her home is being watched, this close to the full Remus is the best tracker on the planet."

Black and Lupin volunteered, leaving Vlad torn between not really enjoying their company and the valid point of someone possibly watching Sally from afar. Harry's wide green eyes would be Vlad's downfall, pleading and trusting.

"Fine, but you're staying outside the magic. It'll help me test the alarm charms. By the way, no wolf beats a biter."

His boyfriend kissed him in full view of everyone, practically melting Vlad on the spot as the world faded away, Weasley wolf-whistles and Ingrid pretending to vomit not even registering properly.

"Can you be disgusting elsewhere? Some of us are eating."

Harry turned to Ingrid, Vlad still searching for mental acuity in the haze kissing his mate left him in.

"You're not."

"I said some. Not me personally."

Rolling his eyes, Vlad couldn't help but laugh inwardly at the vaguely stunned looks on Black and Lupin's faces as their godson kissed the unlife out of his vampire boyfriend. It was good he stopped when he did... Vlad didn't really want any of the enhanced senses in the room to know _exactly_ what sort of effect Harry's kisses usually had on him.

Almost as if on cue, Harry's stomach rumbled loudly. His appetite had stopped growing, and he no longer looked angry at the prospect of waiting more than five minutes for a meal, but with the size of him and his unique metabolism, Vlad suspected Harry would always have quite a healthy appetite.

With only a day until the full moon when they rose the next day, Draco was visibly agitated and it was surprising the Weasleys hadn't noticed his amber eyes or jumpy nature. Or perhaps they had, and chose not to verbalize it.

Bill Weasley popped into the Manor an hour after breakfast, a distinctive scent emanating from his clothes.

"Bill... have you been near a Veela by any chance?"

The redhead flushed, ears and neck red and cheeks glowing pink.

"Shh. I'm here on official business. Sort of. Let's roll."

Vlad gave him a 'really?' look, but concurred and they prepared to leave for the Giles home. Leaving Harry sucked, but Draco needed him more right now. Harry wouldn't come between Vlad and Ingrid, or Vlad and George, so he owed Harry the same courtesy to his brother. Whether by blood or by choice.

With any luck, Draco only had one, maybe two full moons to go before the cure potentially rid him of his affliction. Up close as they prepared to apparate, Vlad could see just how much worse Lupin looked.

"How do we know where we're going?"

"Drop your Occlumency barriers just a little, and I can use telepathy you the image I have from George. You two need to focus on home as much as possible, it'll help guide the magical signature. Once I'm there I can design a two way portkey instead."

Casting a longing look at his boyfriend, Vlad grabbed hold of George and Bill's hands. He focused as much as possible on the _feel_ of George's mental image of home, felt the rather uncomfortable magic suck them in and shove them out the other side. Nobody was standing, but it looked as if nobody had been splinched either.

"You two go sweep outside, check for magical signatures and scents. Don't get caught will you?"

Both technically in hiding and/or on the run, Vlad knew it was possible they be recognised and arrested if caught. Sally and George didn't look like they felt too hot, but appeared glad to be home again.

"So... standard magical detection charms?"

Vlad raised an eyebrow at Bill, who was grinning.

"This is kinda my job. Curse breaker, charm expert. And we ought to be sending George outside with Black and Lupin, or we'll ping the Trace on her."

"I forgot about that. But the Trace only picks up on wand magic, and you may have noticed I didn't bring mine."

Bill looked him up and down, surprised.

"Show off. You go ahead then, and I'll let you know if there's gaps in your defences."

Sticking his tongue out petulantly, Vlad set about layering alarm and detection charms along doors and windows. When he was done, he pretended to need Bill's assurances.

"Not bad."

"These are only for in case someone managed to get through the Fidelius, which is unlikely."

"Fair point. I'll check in with them outside, then we shall get to work on Fidelius."

The alarm charm squealed as soon as Bill made for the front door, letting Vlad know it was working perfectly.

"Is it going to do that every time George comes in and out of the house?"

"No, she's only young. These charms are designed for adult wizards, see?"

Vlad stood in the doorway, not officially an of-age adult in either vampire or wizarding terms, and the charm didn't so much as squeak. Now he had a feel for the place, Vlad charmed his little sisters necklace to work as a forward and back portkey, rather than a one way.

"Coast is clear, only signature is Yaxley but it's days old now."

"Which fits with when we know he came here. Ok, you two stay right where you are. It should only take about half an hour, but it's best you not move much."

Vlad felt for the Replenisher vial in his pocket, just in case since he had a habit of overexerting himself by doing very little magic, then a lot at once. Calculating the spacing needed, the other three wizards kept watch for passersby as Vlad cut his hand and painted a couple of runes on the wall with it - determining that he be the one the charm fixed to. Luckily, vampires had an affinity for blood magic.

As he muttered the incantations, Vlad felt the magic working, fixing the 'secret' deep within himself. It was uncomfortable the entire time, until the spell was over and the discomfort vanished, leaving only a cool, fresh sense of protection within him. Taking a mouthful of Replenisher, he resolved to eat some chocolate when he got back.

"Ok. I'm done. Can you find the house?"

Watching the three grown wizards stare blankly at the house Vlad could see plainly was quite funny, knowing they had all been inside the building and yet it may as well be an empty, abandoned junkyard for all they could tell.

"Now the real test."

Beckoning Bill over, Vlad whispered the secret in his ear. Bill blinked, then nodded as the magic clicked into place.

"Now you tell Black, see if it's holding."

Bill tried to repeat the information, but his throat seemed to stop completely.

"Can't."

"Excellent. Now for the last test."

Vlad wrote the note of information, then handed it to Black. He focused on it intensely, then looked up.

"Damn. Nice work Vlad."

"Thank you. Hand that to Remus, then burn it and clean the wall for me? I'm going to go check on them."

Stepping back in with Bill, the alarm squealed again but thankfully, the Fidelius acted as a sort of soundproofing. It wouldn't disturb the neighbours.

"What about my neighbours and friends?"

"They'll see the house, but... it'll be like they see it in the corner of their eye. Just sort of... noticing. Anybody you want to invite in needs one of these, and they only work if I write it. Make sure you get it back when they are done, I wrote these willingly so technically, anybody could use it."

Sally nodded, taking the ten copies of Vlad's note that simply contained "Sally Giles is at" and her address.

"Your necklace is an emergency escape plan, should anybody get this far and it will work just about anywhere to get you to Malfoy Manor."

Bill added to Vlad's words, after taking the cake George offered him.

"I'll drop by and check for magical signatures in the area once a week or so, just in case anybody comes looking for you."

It was more than Vlad could ask for, and he was immensely grateful to the older wizard.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Gryffindor for life, we take care of our own. I do need to get going though..."

"Back to your Veela friend, I'm sure. Thank you for today Bill, it helped a lot."

"No problem. I'll catch you later."

Bill disapparated with the usual 'crack!' sound, making Sally jump slightly.

"When will we see you again?"

"You've got magical transportation hanging around your necks. Draco said you're welcome whenever at the Manor. So... you can literally just pop by, though at night everyone will be sleeping."

The two females both hugged him tight, filling Vlad with a warmth of family he had long expected never to feel with vampires for relatives. He stuck his head out to say Black and Lupin could leave, then smiled at Sally and George before portkeying back to Malfoy Manor.

"Mission accomplished?"

"Yep. But I'm craving chocolate something fierce."

Harry kissed him, then held out a large chunk of chocolate with a knowing smile.

"I knew there was a reason I was dating you."

-YDHP-

 **Here we go, another chapter. Year Five and Year Six will be seperate uploads, as they'll be very different parts of the story, so Year Five will ne longer than previous years. Which is why it's still early Summer for these guys after five chapters.**


	6. Moonlight Mastery

**You're probably tired of hearing this but I'm ill and apologise in advance if this is terrible. (I'm sorry you don't have a healthy author.)**

 **Warnings for debauchery toward end of chapter.**

-YDHP-

Blood and garlic, being around Riddle really made Vlad's skin _crawl._ His feigned friendly voice did nothing to soothe Vlad's hatred for the mans presence.

"Vladimir. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Greyback around?"

Vlad grit his teeth, opting not to chastise Riddle for calling him _Vladimir_ no matter how many times he asked him to stop. He wanted the psychopath agreeable after all.

"Naturally, the poor animal is still recovering from the moon. I had him play with a pack of real wolves... it was delightfully messy. Forgive my prying, but you don't strike me as the type to seek out a mongrel like Fenrir."

"He reminds me of my mothers boyfriend, and I just found out he's knocked her up. So... I'm wanting to take my frustrations out on Greyback out of convenience. Problem?"

Vlad saw the glee in his eyes for Vlad's bloodlust, felt nauseous for having caused it. He wasn't lying - Magda _was_ pregnant, having an illegal crossbreed baby. Vlad supposed he couldn't judge, being one himself. At least he didn't need an excuse.

"I fear he won't be able to put up much fight."

"I'm sure I can work him up a bit."

"Would you protest an audience?"

Vlad thought quickly - it would be harder to get Greyback's blood with people watching, but he knew he needed to put on a show of sorts or Riddle might get bored of him.

"Depends. If he's just going to lie on the ground I'm not having your lackeys watch, or they'll compare it to the pathetic attempts at torture they were inflicting on breathers. If he has a bit of fight in him, I suppose your idiot minions can watch."

Riddle smiled - or as close as his serpentine, inhuman face was capable of - and led Vlad away. He could _smell_ the dark magic lingering in the air, cloying and sickly like invisible black sludge clogging his senses. He dug down to think of Harry, clinging to the strength of his mate. He was doing this _for_ Harry - Harry wanted Lupin and Draco free of their curses, and Vlad could help do that for him.

He had a couple of vials in his pockets with Notice-Me-Not charms on, trying to keep the magical interference of the blood to a minimum. Contaminants weren't a good idea. He wouldn't get many chances to get it right, at least without raising suspicions.

Greyback was slumped on the floor, surrounded by a dozen other wolves that Vlad wondered if Greyback had turned. It would be grand fun to cure wolves from under Riddle's non-nose. The room reeked of blood and wolf, sweat and dirt. If he couldn't tell the difference by scent, Vlad wouldn't be sure whether the scruffy mounds of flesh were male or female.

"You've been recruiting. I only fought off six and one of those was my teacher."

"Yes. Greyback does so love to spread his disease. These are the last six months, two a cycle."

"So... Greyback turned _all_ of them?"

Vlad needed to leave the room soon before he was sick from the smell, but he also needed information.

"Indeed. Efficient guard dogs with brute strength and both enhanced senses and healing capabilities."

"And by the smell, you don't let them bathe."

"Dogs don't like baths."

Vlad made himself chuckle, pretended to find the anti-werewolf joke funny.

"Well before I throw up from the stench, wake him up so I can hex him to Hades and back would you?"

A very unhappy but compliant Greyback was roughly woken by a hex, then effectively dragged by Riddle to another room. Effectively, because Riddle didn't need rope or strength to move people. They did it out of _fear._

"I'm sure you're wondering what young Vladimir is doing here. You see Greyback, you just happen to be the wrong species at the wrong time. As you will, Vladimir."

He wasn't surprised Riddle wanted to watch, though with the mans keen eyes it would be harder to get away with collecting the blood. Making Greyback bleed wouldn't be a difficulty in itself - Vlad felt hatred pulse in his veins for the bitten beast, the one who actively sought to spread lycanthropy and killed indiscriminately.

Still, he hoped for a little bit of fight. There was no real fun in beating someone who couldn't, or wouldn't fight back. Greyback gave Riddle side-eyes, obviously wondering if this was punishment or simple entertainment.

"My Lord?"

" _Silencio!_ That's much better."

Greyback scowled, but his mouth didn't make another sound even when Vlad expected he was growling and hissing angrily.

"Are you not one for hearing the screams?"

Vlad shook his head, loosely shrugging.

"My hearing is a lot more sensitive than yours."

"I suppose that would wear on a man."

Vlad couldn't help wondering if a part of Riddle was actually achingly _lonely._ He had certainly been so when he first met Lily Evans' mother, and he hadn't made any more friends since. The Death Eaters weren't his friends, they were barely even worthy of the title 'allies' despite their shared cause. They were effectively human missiles Riddle aimed at things, knowing they would go full force and wipe people out in his name.

Because it seemed like, when Vlad was insolent but appeared to share in his motivations, Riddle actually... _enjoyed_ the company. Maybe it was the novelty, that Vlad wasn't so terrified he could hardly speak.

Confused as he was, Greyback didn't react at first when Vlad hexed him. Werewolves healed faster than a human, so he needed a decent couple of deep cuts to bleed the wolf enough, but he had to make a show of it now Riddle was watching.

Recovering, Greyback dropped to a crouch, mouth pulled back in a snarl even if he couldn't actually make the threatening sound that came with it. He looked every inch the cornered animal he was, though it was sluggish and tired - he was still healing from the moon.

Vlad clenched his fist, gaining a little too much vindictive pleasure from watching Greyback choke on nothing as finger-shaped bruises mottled his neck. Dropping the silently-gasping wolf down, he watched dispassionately as Greyback resumed his defensive crouch. He wanted to fight, but until Riddle said it was ok he didn't dare. Vlad ran his eyes over the bare torso, realising Greyback didn't even bear the Dark Mark. He wasn't a real death eater, just a rabid animal Riddle liked to throw at people.

A few shallow Cutting charms showered the floor in droplets of blood - not enough for Vlad's use, nor would they stay open long but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riddle's too-thin mouth twist up in a cruel smirk. He was enjoying it.

"Does this animal have a wand?"

"The wolves share a couple of captured ones, not the best fit but serviceable. I take it then, that you want more of a challenge?"

"Where's the fun in clobbering a ball of wet fur? Off you go then."

His sneer faltered, but Riddle stood and turned away, taking a few measured steps toward the door. Vlad stayed still until he turned around, seeing the lack of movement. The second he was alone, Vlad stunned Greyback and re-opened one of the cuts, filling them with his blood and capping the vials. He managed to close them enough to be less noticeable, levitating Greyback to float unconscious next to him. Riddle quirked an eyebrow - kind of, he didn't really _have_ eyebrows - at the position.

"Couldn't have him try and bite me because you weren't looking. Plus, I thought you wanted a show."

Vlad managed to draw out a half-lazy duel with Greyback that was no challenge at all against a half-healed recently transformed bitten. But... at least it entertained the Death Eaters, and several more opted to jump in and challenge him.

Four unconscious, bleeding bodies later, several backed off their challenge under the guise of refusing to fight a child.

"Hmm. You'll have no excuse in a year, _and_ I'll be stronger. Your funeral."

Despite outward appearances, Vlad was exhausted and, through gritted teeth, thanked Riddle for letting him knock Greyback around before he left. He downed Replenisher as soon as he got outside, feeling it glow warmly inside him as his magical cores rebuilt. He definitely needed chocolate when he got back to the Manor though.

His knees shook but held him up as he landed back in the Manor, only then realising he had been gone much of the day.

"You reek of werewolf and dark magic."

Ingrid looked him up and down, but her Healer training kicked in as she offered him Honeydukes finest.

"Had to entertain the boss. Here's your blood. Only magic is on the vials."

He handed her the wolf blood, then felt the impact of the other half of himself wrapping around him.

"I was worried."

"I'm fine. Exhausted and mildly sick, but fine. And it was necessary to make Draco stop stinking out the Gryffindor dorm before I transform."

Draco rolled his eyes, mock-scowling.

"Bat breath."

"Fleabag. You go help with the brewing Harry, I need a shower and a square meal."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on."

Harry kissed him, leaving Vlad grinning dumbly before they separated, Vlad toward the stairs and Harry off toward the lab. His shower was much needed, cleansing the scent of blood and magic off his skin. It had been awful, but worth it. Both for the blood, and for the sake of keeping Riddle's suspicions quieted as Vlad displayed the expected bloodlust and magical power.

There was a hearty amount of food waiting and being picked at by Harry and Draco; even when Vlad knew he had missed dinner.

"Soon, you two could be human."

Draco nodded, a silent but strong-smelling Remus Lupin quiet in the corner.

"Thanks to you. Today can't have been easy for you."

"Even if we weren't friends Draco, you're Harry's family. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Up to and including helping cure lycanthropy apparently."

Lupin sought him out when everything was quieter, only Harry witnessing the awkward conversation.

"I... I misjudged you Vladimir. I'm sorry."

"You were looking out for Harry. And... you failed to keep us apart, so if I wanted to be party... I won. Don't thank me yet... you need to figure out how you'll lose your werewolf registration. We've kept Draco a secret, you are known to many as a wolf."

"I'm sure I can work it out."

"So long as it's not by saying some vampires gave you your sires blood. Riddle will get suspicious."

"Naturally."

"Well. I've done my part. The rest is up to you potions geeks, I'm not playing with Wolfsbane."

Ingrid swatted his head, but she probably understood the sentiment. He hadn't even known she was there.

"You bleed one mongrel and you think you're hot stuff."

Her words resonated deep inside him, shaking off the double meaning.

"Speaking of hot stuff... I'm getting a hot chocolate and going to bed."

He knew Harry wouldn't be joining him immediately, having potion work to get on with. Though having his mate close by would undoubtedly be a welcome boost after such a dragging day, Vlad knew it was short term - the werewolf cure took precedence.

All the same, when Harry appeared in his room, freshly showered and so cleansed of the smell of werewolf and Wolfsbane, Vlad felt much better as the other boy crawled into his arns.

"Thank you. Today must have been awful for you."

"It was for Draco. So... it was for you. I trust that you would help Ingrid or George if I couldn't, so of course I would help your brother."

"Yeah, you almost died saving my little sister though."

"I would have saved Raven if I had no clue who her family was. No baby belongs in that place."

He shuddered, but Harry held him tighter, kissed his jaw. Melting beneath the weight of his mates comfort, Vlad relaxed.

"And you saved George before you knew she was your sister. It doesn't change that saving my family means something extra to me."

Harry ran a hand down his chest, staying clear of his Mark but tracing his scar and leaving his arm slung casually over his stomach.

"I would do anything for you Harry. Up to and icluding tangling with werewolves."

"That's what makes me a lucky half breed serpent with a vampire mate."

"You're my mate. That doesn't make me yours... if snakes have mates."

"Well... it's a little redundant to say I'm not. I mean, I'm not a vampire so it's not _biological,_ but everything else tells me I'm yours and you're mine."

Vlad started to worry he had upset Harry, but the wizard put paid to that by kissing him gently.

"Now enough heavy stuff. Go to sleep."

"You should take dreamless, Riddle was mad at a few people when I left and I don't want you suffering for it."

Harry did so, dropping off almost instantly on Vlad's chest and coccooning him within the warmth and security he so badly needed. Brushing a hand through his thick, messy hair, Vlad let himself fall asleep too, ignoring the itch of the Mark on his chest.

* * *

"Ok. Here we go."

Harry checked the instructions, nodded to himself and scooped the recommended serving size into a goblet. It was a mottled green colour, grey until the blood had been added. It smelled _awful._ Remus wrinkled his nose as Harry handed over the bizarrely warm brew.

"Are you sure about this Remus?"

"I'm not going to survive life as a wolf much longer. This may well be my last chance to see you grow up Harry."

Vlad, Ingrid and Vertrand each stood along the far wall, ready to stop Remus if the potion turned out to destroy his human half instead of his wolf. That was actually Remus' own choice. The only others present were Harry, the brewer not allergic to Wolfsbane, and Draco, who refused to not see this through.

"Well... here's to your good health Harry."

Harry felt a churlish urge to say some sort of monologue in case the cure went wrong, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say. Remus frowned into the depths of his goblet, then leant his head back a little and downed the lot in one.

"Worse than Wolfsbane... who knew _that_ was possible?"

His voice came out hoarse, like he was holding back bile in his throat as he cringed, then leant forward and wretched though nothing came up. For a minute, nothing happened. Then out of nowhere, Remus crumpled to the ground and let out a pained scream, body contorting in the way Harry deeply suspected resembled his monthly full moon transformation.

He made to try and comfort him, but arms wound around his chest as Vlad held him back.

"You know how rewriting your DNA hurts, I know it's tough to watch but you have to let it happen."

His boyfriend stayed by his side and watched the man writhe in agony on the ground, though he saw no vindictive pleasure in Vlad as one would expect from a vampire watching the werewolf who tried to keep him from his mate suffering. He gripped Harry's hand, letting Harry take comfort from him as the pain went on, then dissipated suddenly. Remus was soaked in sweat and his muscles shook, but he yanked back his sleeve and stared at the scar fading from his arm.

"Is that your turning bite?"

"I've had this scar since I was four years old. I always expected to die with it."

Vlad knelt down alongside Harry, next to Remus' prone form. He leant closer and sniffed him, wrinkling his nose. Harry's heart sank - had it failed?

"You _stink._ But of sweat and pain. The wolf scent is faded, nearly gone."

Harry could have wept for joy. He had helped cure Remus, which meant now they could cure Draco. Rather than leap up, he simply leapt on Vlad and kissed him.

"Can you two feel each other up later? None of us can get near the cauldron and Draco needs his vitamin shake."

Vlad's dilated eyes and heavy breathing was almost too tempting, but he could always _thank_ Vlad properly later. Standing up, he helped haul Vlad back to his feet and then they both picked Remus up off the floor. Draco stepped forward for his turn, looking to Remus for advice or warning.

"It tastes terrible and it really hurts, fair warning. It's like going through the moon... but for the last time."

"Thanks for the pep talk. Let's do this."

Harry dispensed a fresh goblet of nasty green liquid for Draco, holding it out.

"You'll have to stop saving me sometime."

"What's family for bro?"

Draco smiled, reaching for the goblet and staring into it. Even though it had only been a year, Harry knew the moon had taken a toll on him already. How Remus had stayed upbeat and energetic was anyone's guess. Draco gave him a nod, a silent agreement that there were no hard feelings if it didn't work.

"Bottoms up."

The Malfoy nose wrinkled in distaste as he swallowed the revolting mixture. Knowing what he was expecting, Draco managed to roll up his sleeve before the pain came in, obviously hoping to watch his scar fade too.

His wasn't anywhere near as dramatic, tumbling to the ground but there were far less screams and spasms, and it seemed it was over much faster. Draco himself looked surprised from the ground, turning his head to look at his outstretched arm.

"I was expecting much worse. I doubt its a pain threshold thing after he's been doing it much longer..."

Harry chewed his lip, casting his eyes at Remus with his lined face and greying hair.

"Wait. Maybe that's it. You've not been turned as long. It had less to... undo?"

Ingrid joined them, dragging Draco to his feet and sniffing him with distaste for his sweaty skin.

"Best working theory. But we have to test you first. And hold your breath until the full moon."

"Test us? How?"

Ingrid didn't waste time, pressing a coin to his arm.

"Does that hurt?"

"No. Silver?"

"Yep. Catch!"

She tossed it at Remus, who caught it deftly and stared at it in his hand.

"I haven't touched silver for _so_ long. This is so strange."

"Well, our work here is done. Now if you howl at the moon your only excuse is your own madness. I'm going to bed."

Ingrid turned and left, Bertrand congratulating Draco quietly before excusing himself too.

"Feel free to get washed up before you apparate home Remus. I'm going to go show Hermione, and then I am in dire need of a bath."

Vlad frowned, then chuckled.

"I don't want to know."

Draco flushed, but jogged off toward where his girlfriend waited. Remus continued to stare at the coin in his hand, then looked up at Vlad.

"I can never thank you enough."

"Sure you can. Don't try to break us up... and _live._ I didn't do it for you, I did it for Harry so do what makes him happy, and we're even. Firstly... go take a bath. You smell."

Harry found himself agreeing when Remus hugged him, holding his breath until he was released. Vlad watched with a knowing smirk, but said nothing.

"I'll do it at Grimmauld, Sirius must be going out of his mind."

"Or chewing his own tail."

"Harsh Vlad."

Vlad stuck out his tongue.

"Eh, accurate."

Sharing a grin, Vlad confirmed outgoing apparition still worked fine and Remus popped out, leaving the two alone.

"You think you could learn to make that again?"

"The cure? I ah, I guess so. Why?"

"Riddle has Greyback turning a whole pack. Going to have to fix that sometime. Right now... you need a bath too, you smell like Lupin. _Evanesco!_ "

The cauldron emptied - they didn't need it any longer and it would have turned rancid by the next day. Harry let Vlad pull him to one of their rooms; he didn't pay close enough attention to which. He wanted to thank Vlad properly, and Vlad apparently just wanted to touch him all the time. They stripped as the bath ran, filled with a soft citrus scent and pale yellow bubbles.

Harry basked in the hot water next to Vlad, enjoying the lazy motions of exploring each other with their hands, already knowing each others bodies exceptionally well from many nights of eager investigating. Vlad was slowly becoming more confident in initiating things, though he preferred Harry to do so. He nudged Harry upward until he sat on the edge of the bath, erection obvious and level with Vlad's face where he still floated in bathwater.

He knew Vlad hadn't done this before - he had never even kissed Krum properly, and then there was Harry. But he seemed eager rather than nervous, cool breath ghosting across Harry's erection and drawing a soft whine from his throat. Considering how low a temperature his body ran by comparison to most, Vlad's mouth and tongue were surprisingly _hot._

His hand stayed around the base of Harry's shaft, stroking and squeezing as his mouth closed over the tip and his tongue swirled around the sensitive head. Vlad already knew where Harry was most sensitive, having dedicated many hours to learning his responsiveness to every touch and using his tongue where fingers had once explored.

"Merlin Vlad, that feels good."

His technique was still a little sloppy, saliva pooling at the side of his mouth but Vlad seemed to have learned not to _breathe_ or something, never faltering in the slick, wet suction of his mouth as he stroked what he couldn't take in his mouth. Harry struggled to keep his eyes open as his body shook, letting out some probably unappealing needy sounds of desperation, placing a hand on Vlad's head to try and steady himself as he trembled.

Words failing him as he felt his climax near, Harry tugged at Vlad's hair in warning but Vlad stayed fixed on, sucking harder and humming encouragingly until Harry let go and spilled into his mouth. Vlad swallowed him down, lapping gently to ensure he missed none and only pulled off when Harry whimpered with oversensitive shudders.

"Wow. That was... unexpected."

"Was it ok?"

"More than."

Harry dropped back into the bath with lax muscles, watching as Vlad wiped his mouth and bore swollen lips. Given Vlad's typical 'Dracula' pouting lower lip, it made his mouth even more enticing than usual.

"I uh-"

Vlad knew what he was going to say before he even started.

"You don't have to do it back. If you're uncomfortable, _I'm_ uncomfortable. Nobody would be having fun."

Harry nodded, smiling gratefully at Vlad not pushing him to overstep his comfort zone. He was more than happy to run a hand down Vlad's torso, circling his grip around Vlad's swollen cock and stroking. Vlad never took much to topple him over the edge when Harry had come, his pleasure and arousal almost hardwired into Harry's now. He gripped the side of the sunken bath, hips rocking into Harry's grip until the rush finally eased, all sated smiles and relaxed muscles.

"Good job we were done bathing, huh?"

"Yeah, you soiled the bathwater."

Vlad shrugged, chuckling as they dried off and got dressed. He noticed Vlad was no longer nervous to be naked around him, regardless of whether it was before or after they were fooling around. Harry liked it.

Draco was an absolute explosion of excitement and energy the next day, touching silver things indiscriminately and staring at the blank skin where his scar had once been. Harry really hoped that everything had gone to plan, and that the future full moon would hold no sway over his brother.

-YDHP-

 **halfway through summer holidays and they might have cured werewolves... Not a bad use of their time off right?**


	7. Life and Death

**You - I know! That's why I spread it out, because it's a busy year!**

 **However, they'll probably be back to Hogwarts by the end of next chapter.**

-YDHP-

Everybody held their breath for an entire fortnight, both Draco and Remus locked into individual silver cages as they waited for the full moon to rise in the sky. Vlad paced up and down, anxiously hoping the fact both of them had completely human scents now was a good sign.

"Even if this moon passes, I expect you both to be taking precautions on the full for at least the next six months. The slightest adverse reaction to silver or Wolfsbane is not to be ignored. If your senses start acting up, or you have a flash of the wolf inside you. I'm fairly confident this has worked, but..."

"We have to be sure. I get it Vlad."

Hermione paced the length of the room in Animagus form, the sleek panther flicking her tail as they waited. Draco's eyes followed her, clearly admiring it.

"Does this mean I'll be able to become an Animagus?"

"I guess so, but I wouldn't be surprised if your form was wolf, or at least canine. That's what your magic knows."

Draco frowned but shrugged, sitting down in his enclosure like a bored circus exhibit. Neither of the two were even twitching, and Vlad could see the moonrise outside through the window.

"Anything?"

"Not a flicker."

"Lupin?"

"My usual stress of a full moon, but no pain. No pull."

"Alright. Last test, then you're free to leave wearing silver bracelets."

Draco and Lupin both nodded - neither had kept their aversion to silver, though Vlad suspected Lupin disliked it out of habit by then.

"What's the test?"

"We take you outside. Just in case."

The cage doors opened, Draco rolling his eyes and drawling out his sarcastic answer.

"That seems _totally_ safe."

"I took on six wolves alone, you think three vampires and a panther can't stop you two?"

Ingrid and Bertrand gestured from their opposite sides of the room, Severus and Raven obviously far away from potential werewolves though Severus was obviously on tenterhooks about Draco's potentially cured status.

They were all on edge as the two reached the front door, taking deep breaths before stepping out into the moonlit night. Hermione bounded past them, stretching her paws as she padded around in front of the two could-be wolves. Several hearts pounded loudly.

Nothing happened.

The only quadraped in the Malfoy garden was the panther with brown eyes. Lupin sucked in a deep breath, then whooped and jumped in a strange sort of excited dance.

"I've not seen the Full Moon with my own human eyes since I was an infant. This is... incredible."

"Congratulations. Put this on. If you even start to turn, these will give you a noticeable and nasty burn."

Draco and Lupin both clicked the silver around their wrists, and Vlad felt safe enough to leave them to it. However, Harry obviously felt like showing off, shifting into his own Animagus form (thankfully not accidentally becoming a Basilisk) and soaring around out of panther-Hermione's reach.

"They became animagi to help Draco like your friends did for you-"

"And you've gone and rendered that pointless by curing us."

He and Lupin may never be best friends, but the wol- no, the _man_ was important to Harry. That made him important to Vlad's happiness indirectly, as _his_ happiness was tied to Harry's.

"Well, it's impressive nonetheless. Shame vamps can't be animagi too, though I suppose I'll be flying this time next year anyway."

"Of course, you'll be sixteen next year."

When did 'intending to leave' become 'talking to Lupin'?

"Yep. Just in time to have finished my OWLs, as if I needed more reason to be irritable than my fangs coming in."

Lupin fell silent for a minute, and Vlad began to pick up on his scent. He was so used to Lupin smelling of wolf that his mind didn't immediately connect, but there was definitely canine on his clothing.

"When are you and Black telling Harry?"

"Excuse me?"

"You can't fool a vamp."

Lupin frowned in thought, but then his face cleared in realisation.

"Ah. I forget my own senses are dulled now, because it's so exciting to see the world right again."

"So..."

"I suppose there's nothing stopping us telling him now really. Unless you told him already?"

"No. But if he asks, you should already know it's near impossible for me to lie to him."

When Harry came back down with his human limbs back in place, Vlad gave Lupin a pointed look. The man took Harry aside so Vlad made a show of not listening, even if it was difficult not to hear them in the open landscape of the garden. Harry didn't even feel surprised, and he simply said "that's great" to his godfather dating his other godfather, then said he wanted to get back inside.

"I'm hungry, and if I have to watch those two" Harry gesyired at Draco and now-human-Hermione kissing enthusiastically "any longer I'm gonna be sick. Go show Sirius your face under the full would ya?"

Vlad found he minded seeing Lupin hug Harry much less now he wouldn't leave the smell of werewolf all over his mate, the one Vlad suspected was planning on another energetic 'thank you' that night, because when Harry looked at him Vlad felt arousal that wasn't his own. Which was saying something given the effect Harry had on him, and it was _probably_ why Ingrid rolled her eyes and walked back into the Manor.

Lupin left, and Harry grabbed Vlad by the hand and pulled him back into the Manor, stopping first to raid the plate full of late night snacks next to the mugs of hot chocolate that magically stayed warm. Vlad suspected house elves. He sipped at the caramel flavoured drink while Harry ate some cupcakes and biscuits, grinning with his cheeks puffed full of food.

"Oh, that's very attractive."

Taking what looked like a difficult swallow, Harry nodded.

"Well, to you it still is."

Harry had him there.

"True. But still, try to reserve some manners or at least don't choke on some kind of hybrid carbohydrate mix in your mouth."

Shrugging, Harry downed his hot chocolate in one long repetitive swallow, panting slightly for air and Vlad felt his mind wandering. Harry finished the treacle tart slice he had left, then gestured to the stairs.

"Bed?"

Heart pounding, Vlad tried to play it cool.

"Bit early."

"Exactly."

Draco and Hermione chose that moment to walk in, flustered themselves and Vlad looked away.

"Get a room!"

"About to. You're one to talk, feeling each other up in the garden. You'll traumatise the peacocks."

Harry chose that moment to run before Draco hexed him. Vlad naturally followed, tracking Harry's scent to his own room though they barely paid mind to which was which so long as they were together at night.

He was practically tackled onto the bed by the broad, muscular one of their two - Vlad was taller, leaner and not part seventy foot serpent. He revelled in Harrys weight atop him, the energy and enthusiasm with which Harry kissed and touched him. Harry still wasn't up to using more than his hand on Vlad, but Vlad _really_ didn't mind. His mate touching him willingly was far better than attempting to touch him nervously, especially when Vlad could feel what Harry felt.

"Can we go sleep with Samael tonight? He's probably lonely."

"Uh, I guess so. Hang on, let me get my t-shirt."

"Why?"

Vlad couldn't help but be amused by Harry's put out expression at the prospect of Vlad putting on clothes.

"I have no idea what will happen if Samael touches the Mark on my chest put there by his previous... owner."

 _Master_ was probably a more accurate term, but Vlad was against bigging up Riddle even to himself.

"Right. Makes sense I guess. I'm still not happy about it."

Vlad laughed to himself as he pulled on his t-shirt, made sure his pyjama bottoms were in place and watched avidly as Harry - still shirtless - bent down to open the trunk, then dropped down ahead of Vlad. Vlad locked the door; he doubted anyone would walk in but still. Jumping down into the trunk was always a little odd for him at first - all the knowledge in the world couldn't dull his protective instincts for Harry and watching his mate practically cuddling a behemoth of a snake looked dangerous at first.

"Samael reckons the Mark shouldn't respond to him anyway, but he commends your thoughtfulness."

"Oh. Right. Thank you, I guess."

Harry burrowed immediately into Vlad's arms, knowing full well he was always welcome there and sighing contentedly once settled. Vlad struggled to sleep; his mind was racing. How was he to reconcile where he was and what Harry was with the 'other' pulsing away inside him?

His mate noticed Vlad's sleep-lacking state in the morning, rubbing a thumb over his cheek as he fretted.

"Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"No. Just... I'll explain later. You'll be hungry any minute now."

Harry's stomach growled on cue, cheeks flushing as they bade Samael good morning and left the trunk for clothes, then breakfast. Vlad pushed his eggs and hot sauce around his plate, feeling his stomach toil with nerves as Harry set about sating his reptilian metabolism. If the others noticed Vlad's off mood, they didn't say. Wrapping up a bacon sandwich to-go, Harry ate it on the way back to their rooms, then washed his hands and face before sitting opposite Vlad on his bed.

"Ok, I'm good. Now talk."

Vlad's fingers twisted in his lap, trying to find words to explain himself to his mate.

His _Basilisk loving, Slytherin's heir mate._

"Ok. This is tricky to word, so I'm just gonna show you. Hopefully. I've only done this once before."

Harry looked ever more confused, watching as Vlad stood up, closed his eyes and dug down deep. The flames waited there for him, almost like touching a bolt of lightning and feeling the electrocution zip along his nerves, except it was warm and comforting as his body changed.

When he was done, Harry looked like a giant and stared down at Vlad like he had... well. Stretching his wings felt unbelievably good, flapping up to perch on the back of his desk chair which was more Harry's height than the ground at least. Harry reached out a hand, hesitantly touching the plumage on his head.

"You're a _Phoenix."_

* * *

On a scale of big, bizarre revelations, Vlad's animagus form was one _hell_ of a biggie.

Harry spent a minute or two overwhelmed by the transformation, finding Vlad near indistinguishable from Fawkes except his plumage was all darker shades of red and gold, the red bloodied-crimson and the gold ashy rather than bright and vibrant. Then there were the eyes; Fawkes had black eyes. Phoenix Vlad had blue.

He cocked his head, trilling and Harry's mind remembered Fawkes. Remembered how Samael was uncomfortable with only the presence, never mind the powers of a phoenix. Basilisk and phoenix... they were never supposed to mix.

Although... he supposed it may explain Vlad's immunity to Harry's basilisk venom.

"Can you turn back? This conversation is a little one sided."

The bird nodded, ruffling his feathers and hopping down to the ground when Harry stepped back. A shimmer lasted for a heartbeat, then Vlad was back to having opposable thumbs.

"Wow. That was just... wow. How did you even-"

"It started when Hermione made me take that bloody Animagus potion. But... I figured it was a response to vampirism that it showed me a phoenix. But I couldn't shake it. I've been ignoring it for a while, but me and Ingrid were practicing reacting to spells that don't affect biters a couple days ago. Forced transformations charm."

Realising he was still sat on the floor, Harry leant down and helped Vlad stand up.

"So Ingrid knows?"

"Hard not to notice. You're the first to see me do it unaided, transform by choice."

Vlad patted down his face, then body to check everything had switched back right. Hermione had ended up with a human body and a tail a couple of times, and Harry had found some feathers in interesting places back when they were learning.

"Ingrid was the first to see me transform into a Basilisk too. You saw my Animagus form first. What is it with Dracula's?"

"You can't get enough of us?"

Harry was about to answer, but Vlad's head turned toward the wall like it had called out to him.

"About time. Hogwarts letters are here."

"How did you-"

"I warded Malfoy Manor. Turns out I'm good at transport and wards for a reason. The irony is... I'm _pants_ at healing magic."

"That's what I'm for."

Vlad tipped his head in indication, Harry taking it to mean they should go get their school lists. Taking the vampires hand, his mind began to whirl with the implications of his lovers Animagus form again. Could a phoenix and a basilisk really intertwine the way they had, the way they would for the rest of their not-short lives.

Draco was sat next to Severus, who was holding Raven and sipping at his coffee while she babbled to herself. Harry smiled at the little girl, who clapped her chubby baby hands in his direction while Draco held up the stack of Hogwarts letters.

"They sent us yours and Ingrid's too. Plus Hermione's."

Vlad rolled his eyes, taking the letter with his name and waiting for Harry and Draco to hold up theirs.

"Meddling old coot. Let's find out who won the prize. Money on Hermione for girls."

Harry furrowed his brow in thought as they opened their envelopes, Hermione's excited squeal making Raven blink rapidly in surprise. Draco turned his envelope upside down, badge clattering to the table.

"Prefect couple. What a surprise."

Harry peered into his own unusually heavy envelope, finding the 'Quidditch Captain' badge in there he had forgotten was to be his.

"Hey Ingrid?"

"What pus face?"

Harry muffled a laugh into his hand as Ingrid answered Vlad, irate for the red and gold prefect badges.

"What's your DADA book list?"

Ingrid scanned the list, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Defensive Magical Theory. If I wanted _theory,_ I'd take Arithmancy."

"Ours too. Umbridge set fifth year and seventh year the same book. That's not worrying at all when the only other professor who set one list for everyone was Lockhart."

Harry asked Dobby if they had a copy in the Malfoy library, the elf returning with what looked like a _very_ basic book all about theory. There were entire chapters dedicated to correct wand grip, the correct distance between ones feet and when to try and avoid confrontational magic.

"Anybody else see the problem here?"

Vlad asked, and Hermione piped in.

"Theres nothing in here about _using_ defensive magic. Assuming the Ministry placed her in Hogwarts... they don't want us what? Trained in defense?"

Vlad bit his lip; Harry had to make himself not kiss it better.

"No. They don't want us trained to _fight._ This woman has a whole year to try and programme every student to sit quietly and listen, so when Riddle makes his move the Ministry will be able to get away with anything in the name of 'protecting' people. I'll deal with her later... I'm going to go see my mum and find out if she wants us to take George school shopping."

Vlad kissed Harry quickly, then popped out of the Manor with his portkey leaving a stunned silence at his speed behind.

"What's his problem?"

Draco frowned, staring at the spot where Vlad had vanished.

"He hates people telling him what to do. He especially hates when people take advantage of power to enforce compliance. Hilariously moralistic for the future Grand High Vampire. That will become his _job."_

Ingrid swung her booted feet back off the edge of the table, then zipped off with her Hogwarts letter. Harry took her vacated seat because it was closest, considering why he left so urgently.

"I think he went to them before they could come _here._ They don't know about Raven and Severus."

"And it will stay that way. That infernal excitable br- child will not be allowed to question me on the intricacies of a male pregnancy."

Harry couldn't argue with that, knowing his boyfriends little sister was just about the most inquisitive, curious and _nosy_ thirteen year old there was.

Vlad was gone much of the day; a day Harry and Draco spent out in the sun playing with Raven, who greatly enjoyed ripping grass from the perfectly manicured lawns and crawling like lightning when their eyes were off her for half a second. He came back with plans to take George with them to Diagon Alley, citing a fair point to Harry as they got ready for bed.

"Before, we were nervous about trouble from Riddle and his lackeys. That's one thing I can ebe reasonably confident isn't going to be a problem this year. However, I still don't trust Yaxley to stop trying, it's safer if we take her and my mum is nowhere near magic folk."

Harry smiled; Vlad eyed him for a minute before growing confused with his scrutiny.

"What?"

"You. You've taken to calling her mum and being a big brother so fast."

"So have you. With Raven I mean."

They fell silent for a few minutes, Harry watching Vlad stretch and rub at a sore spot betweenhis neck and shoulder. Both having avian Animagus forms, Harry knew what that was. Wing ache, where the muscles had to change most of all.

"Here, let me."

Vlad sat in front of Harry, letting him rub deep circles with his thumbs in the sore spots.

"Do you know the story of Life and Death Harry?"

"You'll have to be more specific Vlad."

"It's actually a love story. Life and Death fell in love, but like the day and the night, they were never to exist at the same time. So instead, Life brings Death all her gifts, and in return Death treasures them forever."

Mildly concerned his boyfriend had lost it, Harry dropped his hands and waited for Vlad to turn around.

"Interesting story, but... what's your point?"

"If Life and Death can make it work, there's no reason phoenix and basilisk can't."

-YDHP-

 **Right then. Back to school next chapter. Anyone else looking forward to Umbridge and her part- or near- human hate mixing with Draculas? Teehee.**


	8. Weighted Deception

**You - well, I don't think anybody** ** _loves_** **Umbridge. Hell, don't think anybody likes her. JK did an anazing job of writing a universally hated character.**

-YDHP-

"I really hate that they sent the letters out so late. The Diagon Alley rush sucks."

Vlad sighed, sat in his mothers kitchen waiting for George to find her shoes. The girl came barreling down the stairs clutching her canvas pumps, landing in a chair breathlessly.

"You stay right with Vlad, you hear me George?"

"Well duh!"

"Don't worry, her portkey still works in Diagon Alley. If for some bizarre reason anything happened despite my deal with the devil... she can come here or pop to Malfoy Manor. She'll be safe with us mum, I promise."

Done lacing up her shoes, George threw on her magically expanded backpack - courtesy of Vlad - and stood up, beaming.

"Ready!"

Sally hugged them both tightly, petting Vlad's hair softly as she gazed down at him.

"It's still so strange seeing you two together. Go on, off you go."

"We should be done by lunchtime, depending how busy Diagon Alley is. Ready George?"

She grabbed the portkey, holding on tight as they popped back to Malfoy Manor where everyone else was waiting.

"Ok, we're meeting the Weasleys and Hermione's parents at the Leaky Cauldron, since the Muggles can't get into Diagon Alley alone. Everybody ready?"

Bertrand nodded, as did everyone else. They each touched the next transport object, landing in the still-quiet corner by Gringotts that served as the portkey and apparition point.

"Wow. I've never seen it so empty."

"We always get here early. It'll fill up within the hour, so let's get the rest of the group and go to Gringotts."

If anyone asked; George was there with Ginny. Nobody really did though, their group usually a motley crew of different families. The Gringotts queues were already beginning to grow as they got there, George staying by Vlad's side the whole time as promised.

"We'll hit the Menagerie since, well, you can't. Meet you at Flourish and Blotts?"

"Works for me. Come on George."

Harry stayed with Vlad, Ginny and George as they went to the candy store, amassing enough candy and sweets to make the entirety of Hogwarts quite sick. They saw the Weasley twins vanish into Gambol joke store, Vlad under strict orders not to let George set one foot in therem

She got around that by asking Harry to go in for her. Vlad sighed in exasperation, but couldn't fault her resourcefulness.

"I promise I won't tell mum you let me get anything. She won't even see it!"

Rolling his eyes, Vlad fought a laugh at her feigned innocent face.

"Alright. Don't spoil your lunch with too much junk."

Pretending not to be chewing on a licorice wand, George repeated the innocent expression. Flourish and Blotts was already getting busy, and they had a whole lot of books to buy. Nobody seemed excited by the dozens of copies of 'Defensive Magical Theory' selling like hot cakes. Terrible, tasteless hot cakes.

"I need new Quidditch padding, third year stuff just doesn't fit me anymore."

Harry had pretty much doubled in size since he last played Quidditch at Hogwarts, so Vlad wasn't surprised his old stuff didn't go around him anymore.

"Alright, we'll do Quidditch store, Apothecary, stationary and then robes?"

Bertrand hung back with the Weasley and Granger parents, more used to the self-governing teens and using his time to keep watch around them.

George pottered around Quality Quidditch Supplies while Harry and Draco got measured for new padding - since being cured of lycanthropy, Draco's unnatural muscles had declined to leave him leaner, his appetite adjusting accordingly. So his older stuff was just as useless. Two golden brown bundles wrapped later, the two were ready to head onward.

"All done, let's get on to the Apothecary."

The shopkeepers were clearly torn between hating huge crowds and loving huge sales - they had nine Potions students, three of whom took Healing, plus a list from Severus to fill so he could putter about mixing stuff to entertain himself. The poor Apothecary man looked run ragged, but Malfoy money and Ingrid's icy glare had them done in record time.

"Now what?"

George looked up him, her mad curls lit up with the July sunshine as they bagged their stuff up.

"Parchment, ink and quills. Then Madam Malkins, although at this point I'm seriously considering mail order again."

Draco nodded in agreement, frowning at the milling crowds and noisy pre-teens.

"You're telling me. New plan; get a permanent Hogwarts staff so our book lists are always predictable. Then we can do all this early."

"Sounds good. Let's get this over with, I'm craving ice cream."

George had never been on their post-shop ice cream trip, but between her bizarre mix of matcha tea, lemon meringue and peanut butter flavour scoops plus ketchup (why Fortescue had that in was anyone's guess) and her giggles as Ingrid had husbands getting slapped by their wives for staring, Vlad reckoned she enjoyed the trip.

"We done?"

"We're done. See you at Kings Cross Hermione."

Hermione jumped back and forth between Malfoy Manor and her parents home, spending the last of her holiday with her parents before it was back to Hogwarts. Vlad took George home while the Weasleys headed for the Floo, and everyone else back to Malfoy Manor where Ingrid and Bertrand could recover from excessive sun exposure.

Next year, that would be him too.

That seemed even more insane to contemplate when looking at his tanned sister and mother, who were both avid fans of the sun. Sally was quite taken with the bag of sweets George came back with, so Vlad made a mental note to send her some Honeydukes packages over the school year. That meant getting the Giles' an owl that could come to school, and be permitted within the Fidelius charm.

Actually, he ought to do that anyway so George could write to her mother.

"George, you have a favourite owl breed?"

"Uh, why?"

"Because I'm guessing your Hogwarts letter was left on the grass outside, because it couldn't get through the Fidelius?"

"Yea- oh, I need to be able to write to mum!"

"Yep. So, let's jump back to the Alley and you can get an owl. Ok? Consider it a big brother gift."

George beamed, following him back to Diagon Alley and Vlad had to stay right by the counter to avoid being mauled or yelled at by a dozen different owls. His little sister chose a huge barn owl with messy feathers everywhere, which according to the Owlery owner had had very little interest. But George was enchanted.

"Fifteen galleons and I'll throw in two bags of owl nuts and his cage."

Vlad paid and helped George get it back to her home, getting death stares from the bird the whole time.

"Yes, I know you don't like vampires. I can't do anything about being a biter unfortunately."

The owl glared, but quieted down when George put an owl nut through the cage.

"You can get food for him at any decent pet store, and he can hunt for himself but only let him out at night or it'll be a little obvious."

"Makes sense."

Sally looked a little unsure, but remembered it was her only line of communication with George during the school years.

"What did you name him George?"

She rubbed her chin, thinking as the bird ruffled his feathers irritably.

"Dad woulda called him something like Scruff. So... Scruff it is. Ok Scruff, this is my mum, and this half breed here is my brother. He absolutely will not eat you, he just wanted to make sure me and our mum can chat. Welcome to your new family."

Scruff hooted balefully, then put his head under his wing and resolutely ignored them.

"He'll come around. You need to get back and sort your trunk out don't you?"

Vlad nodded, hugging both mother and sister.

"I do. I'll come by again in a couple of days, hang out before we have to go back to school."

"I look forward to it son."

Smiling, Vlad popped back to Malfoy Manor to find Harry lying on the grass outside playing with his snake. And that wasn't a euphemism.

"Lily in the great outdoors? I thought she was in love with Samael and refusing to leave his side."

Lily hissed grumpily at him, but allowed Vlad to reach out a hand and stroke her scales.

"She said you're as funny as rat poo. Why do you smell like owls?"

"I bought George an owl, because no standard Hogwarts owl can find her house."

"Look at you all big brother. Me and Lily are just getting some sun. Apparently with how much time she spends down in the trunk, she can confirm that your magical sunlight doesn't feel exactly like natural August rays."

"Well, Samael is a little conspicuous to have just lazing about in a field."

Lily hissed, looking up at Harry imploringly.

"I agree, we will find a place he can stretch his scales some day, but if he wants to be awake he's gotta hide while I'm still at school."

Vlad laid on the grass, watching Harry bask in the sun on his psuedo-scaled skin. He would never get enough of looking at Harry. His mate was so beautiful, Vlad couldn't help but stare.

"This is strange. Good strange."

"What?"

"Going back to Hogwarts. Starting the year with you."

Harry beamed.

* * *

Harry was vaguely bored waiting for Vlad to come back, but he was spending the last day he could with George and his mom. Harry perked up a minute later when Draco appeared with their now-liberated-from-her-fathers baby sister. Raven was teething, gnawing on her little fist but surprisingly crying very little.

"Hmm. Is there such a thing as teething potions?"

"Yep. And with her father being a Potions master, this little one has easy access to such things. So aside from the drooling, this little one shouldn't be distressed by sore gums. Isn't that right Raven?"

Draco let Harry get hold of the girl, Raven gurgling happily up at Harry. He pondered many times over Raven's conception since the day he met her. Male pregnancy was so rare a gay couple could easily go their whole lives and it never happen. Severus had said the likelihood of himself falling pregnant again was chronically unlikely, and he was _human._

So Harry could in no way expect he and Vlad to sire children biologically, and that sort of disappointed him even though their relationship was still fresh. He had always had the vague notion of a kid or two in his future, but he was part reptile and Vlad a vampire. It didn't really seem to click, and that was _without_ accounting for them being phoenix and basilisk.

"Come on you, lets get some playtime in before your dads appear to tell us off for corrupting you with fluffy toys."

Her warm black eyes and messy curls made for an interesting and rather adorable mix as Raven nodded, curls bouncing around her little face even if she didn't really understand what they were saying. She had a special 'egg' chair that helped her stay sat up, watching them and giggling whenever toys floated past, chubby little fingers reaching out to grab them.

"I don't know how muggles entertain children, this is about the easiest way to do it."

"I don't know, she likes being out in the garden too and muggles have those."

Draco considered that, nodding and then watching in surprise as a bottle floated in front of their faces, straight to little Raven's outstretched hand.

"Accidental magic before a year old? Or is that a vamp thing?"

Vlad's voice surprised them both, walking in from the portkey point with a smile in Harry's direction.

"Not a vampire thing. I'm not surprised she's magical though."

"How come?"

"I'm half vampire, half squib and _I'm_ magical. She's half wizard and half biter, it makes sense."

Vlad sat down next to where Harry was perched to play with Raven, kissing his boyfriend and looking at the little girl.

"You're right. It does make sense."

"Where's Ingrid?"

"Sleeping. Back on days soon."

"It's her last year at Hogwarts. It'll be weird not having her around to harass me between classes."

Vlad caught the bottle Raven dropped now it had run dry, handing it to a nearby house elf to be cleaned, sterilized and then refilled.

Bertrand and Severus found the three teen boys sat there at Raven's beck and call, liberating their daughter from them to check she hadn't been critically harmed out of their supervision. Harry didn't want to contemplate why they had stayed away so long when Draco had come down with her.

"You all ready to go back to Hogwarts?"

"Ready to dodge a vampire hater, keep Riddle in the dark about me double crossing him, keep my scars and Dark Mark and _humanity_ hidden all whilst taking OWLs right as I'm about to turn into a bloodthirsty monster? Bring it on."

"You're so melodramatic Vlad."

"Eat me cure-breed."

Draco pulled a face, sneer breaking into a smile as he then rolled over and stood up, eyeing his watch.

"Time for dinner almost. Then tomorrow is final preparations."

"Then the day after that-"

"Back to Hogwarts."

Their final preparations weren't really that major - check their trunks, make sure everyone's uniforms still fit (Harry's growth did appear to have tapered off at last) and in Harry and Draco's cases, steal some last time in with Raven before they vanished off for months at a time.

"You, little madam, don't be forgetting your big brothers."

"I'm sure we can make some house elves wear wigs and and talk rubbish, can't be much different."

Mock-scowling at Ingrid, Harry handed off Raven to Draco so he could hug her, then returned her to her fathers. Bertrand would have to leave his boyfriend and daughter for much of the time, as if he wasn't seen around Hogwarts as much it would be hugely suspicious.

Twin gasps of pain sounded as Severus and Vlad suddenly doubled over, Vlad clutching his chest as Severus grabbed his arm. It didn't take much to work out the cause, but there was nothing to be done until the wave passed.

"I thought yours didn't hurt?"

Ingrid peered down at her brother, watching as he peered down his shirt as though expecting the Dark Mark to have been freshly burned in.

"Sometimes the dork lard likes to leave it to ache constantly, which makes mine itchy. When he wants a meeting, it burns. Even mine."

"Your presence not expected?"

"Probably, but I'm not going."

Vlad dropped into a chair, drawing in a few deep breaths while Harry ached to somehow make the pain stop. His face cleared a minute later, the pain apparently subsided.

"Is there no way to break the magical connection?"

Bertrand quizzed, obviously concerned by his partner in distress.

"Probably, but I'd need to examine the exact charms that went into it to work out how it unwinds. It would be _far_ more practical just to kill him."

"You should go to that meeting bat breath. If he's calling it the day before Hogwarts starts, it might be important to know what's going on."

Harry _hated_ that Ingrid had a point. He didn't want Vlad in danger, but nobody else had an inside link.

"Fuck, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give it five minutes, stroll in fashionably late."

Vlad left as he said, leaving behind Harry to pace nervously until Bertrand ended up offering him Raven as a distraction. It sort of worked, the gurgling infant putting a smile on his face even through his constant worry about his boyfriend.

Said boyfriend returned an hour later, paler than usual (which was saying something) and carrying the unmistakable smell of dark magic and death on his clothes.

"Was it bad?"

"Put it this way... Hogwarts needs a new Muggle Studies teacher. It was meant to be a celebration, Riddle and his minions not worrying so much about their kids learning. Like there are many kids of those psychos taking Muggle Studies. I need a shower."

He left, squeezing Harry's hand but clearly in need of removing the night from himself and Harry let him. Just like he let Vlad burrow into his arms in bed, holding him after he gave every detail he could about the meeting to the other residents of the Manor.

"She... she saw me. She asked me to help her and I couldn't say a word. I had to stand there and watch, to pretend it wasn't getting to me."

"Not many could do that Vlad. And you know if you had tried to interfere" Harry swallowed heavily "he would have just killed you as well as her. Come on, we'll do shots together and sleep."

Vlad looked perplexed, at least until Harry produced the vials of Dreamless Sleep for them both. It carried them into blissful blackness, ensuring both were rested for the early start of getting to Kings Cross early.

Used to being alone, they were all surprised that there were already wizards on the platform. Aurors, scanning the _empty_ train for Merlin-knew-what.

"What are you kids... and adult, doing here?"

Vlad being the one Aurors were wary of after his trifles with them in the past, stepped up and scowled.

"Ingrid, me and Bertrand have been issued a portkey for this trip every year. Harry and Draco opted to join us and there is no rule against it. So if you'll excuse us."

"Hang on, where are your trunks?"

Everyone pulled out their shrunken down possessions, prompting more complaining about underage magic until they were reminded Ingrid had aged out of that particular restriction. Finally, with the driver and trolley lady peering out from the front of the train, they were allowed to go take their usual compartment.

The Aurors peered in every half an hour, horrified when the lovely sweets lady pulled out Blood Pops as Harry jokingly asked for them, throwing them at Bertrand. The seat that would undoubtedly be taken by Hermione was temporarily laden with their usual haul, having now beaten the rush.

"Pop back anyway, with the steady stream of Gryffindors in here we'll probably run out."

She nodded, wheeling herself out with a rather schoolgirl wink at Bertrand that left them all laughing as she left. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Bertrand resumed staring out of the window.

"Make sure you save us some, me and Hermione have to go to the Prefect meeting first thing."

"Speaking of leaving, I should go before I'm seen with you."

Ingrid pocketed some of the lollipops, then stood and wandered off down the train to find herself a compartment for other Slytherins or perhaps just people less embarrassing than Gryffindors.

"I'm supposed to chaperone that prefect meeting now, as many of the teachers are already at Hogwarts."

"Bertrand, take this. You'll probably see Dumbledore before I do."

Vlad handed the older vampire a folded up piece of parchment, which Bertrand peered in to, then nodded and tucked into his inside pocket. Harry had his suspicions about what it said. Draco followed his would-be-stepfather out, leaving Harry and Vlad for the last few minutes before the train began to board at ten thirty. They couldn't risk getting too cozy, not with the aurors about.

"Fifth year. Sometimes I'm amazed we made it this far."

-YDHP-

 **Back to Hogwarts! I know Prof. Burbage gets killed off later in canon, but it wasn't random.**


	9. Rose-tinted Nightmares

**You - yeah, it was kinda a filler to bridge them back to Hogwarts, but at least we're here now!**

 **Warnings for sexual activity.**

-YDHP-

It took until Hogwarts was in sight for the Aurors to stop sticking their heads in, though Vlad suspected it was at least partly down to them silencing the door so the aurors couldn't eavesdrop. It did put a dent in George being able to call him "big brother", which she wouldn't get much chance to do at Hogwarts, though Vlad promised they would get to hang out sometime still.

"I'm gonna go find the twins, check they haven't swapped their robes in some Parent Trap thing."

"Remember George, you can't tell them."

"I know. Sucks. Ah well."

She threw her arms around Vlad, squeezing him tight and he smiled, watching his little sister amble off down the train in search of her friends. Scruff hooted indignantly at being left behind, beady eyes on Phantom and Lily who were napping in Harry's lap but apparently still posed a threat.

"Don't worry, when we leave Phantom goes back in her carrier and Lily goes with Harry, so you can stop glaring."

Scruff cawed in a rather un-owl-like way, then put his head under his wing and ignored them. It was remarkable... George had picked the owl equivalent of Ingrid. The train began to slow down, prompting everyone to scramble around and pull on their school robes. Except Hermione and Draco, who already had theirs on. Phantom and Lily both protested being moved, Vlad just managing to get his familiar in her carrier before she realised the situation, grumbling from inside until Vlad dropped a treat through the bars.

"Go to sleep, you can make a nuisance of yourself again when we get to the dorms."

Phantom flicked her tail, picked up the treat and turned herself around, leaving everyone staring at her furry butt instead of her face. Rolling his eyes, Vlad placed her securely in the luggage rack next to an unimpressed Scruff.

"Phantom is scared of birds, so you would probably win in a fight."

They disembarked the train, aurors still milling about the place and running all sorts of checks with their wands over trunks. Vlad would like to see them get into any of the trunks charmed locked. Some of them still left paint-stains on intruders. He almost asked Harry if they could put Samael's trunk down with them, just for the amusement imagining them opening a trunk and finding a Basilisk.

As he stood watching other students clamber into carriages, Vlad saw a couple of the students who had parents in Riddle's ranks. Clearly, the warning to leave him be was in full force - one or two actually made an effort to give him a wide berth. He didn't like the idea of his being Marked being public knowledge. Even if it was a particular public.

Nausea rolled through him when he saw Charity Burbage's empty seat, seeing some pink-clad monstrosity of a woman in Tonks' seat. Definitely the vampire-hater, he decided. Nobody liked vampires and wore _that_ much pink frills. Ingrid looked to be considering setting her outfit on fire for kicks.

When the pink monster caught sight of Ingrid, with the six inches clear space around her at all times making her stand out quite easily, her face clouded over.

Yep. Vampire hater.

Bertrand entered the room, obviously having been held up - Vlad bet on the Aurors - and pink-lady practically hexed him for walking past her, recoiling from the vampire as he surreptitiously dropped Vlad's note to Dumbledore. The Headmaster managed to keep a relatively straight face as he looked down at it, eyes flicking between the empty sest at the Head table and Vlad for a second. Not obvious at all to those who would be looking... gee, thanks Dumbledore.

Harry was watching the whole thing calmly, brushing his fingers against Vlad's under the table as they took their seats.

"Welcome back students, to a new year at Hogwarts! Now, let's begin the Sorting shall we?"

There was an undercurrent of chat about the fuzzy pink creature masquerading as a person, but everyone fell silent as the first years were led into the room. Some were shaking, others staring awestruck at the ceiling above. One Vlad felt looked a lot like someone he couldn't put his finger on was looking at the other students, small brown eyes keenly observing.

"Were we really that small?"

"Probably smaller. The average height in the UK has probably gone up since we were eleven."

"Dork."

Harry smiled as he said it, but the hush descended as McGonogall stood up and brandished the name scroll.

"Anderson, Justin!"

The list was smaller this year, Vlad noticed. Perhaps the Voldemort-threat was making parents homeschool or send their children elsewhere. A handful of current students seemed to be missing too. The empty spot at the Head Table seemed to be watching him, remembering Charity Burbage's sobbing face turning cold, eyes glazing over as Riddle killed her while he could only look on. He was by far the youngest attendee at that meeting, but perhaps Riddle didn't trust the children of his followers not to wet their pants seeing a real, actual death.

Before he knew it, the Sorting was over. Only four new Gryffindors, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff gaining seven a piece and Slytherin an even six.

The feast was the usual chaotic mass of chatter and chewing, but Vlad struggled to feel hungry and had to force himself to take a few mouthful of potatoes and chicken when he thought people were getting suspicious. Harry's usual voracious appetite helped mask it - a lot of food vanished into the two seat stretch containing the two of them.

He scrounged up enough desire to eat some of the spiced pumpkin pie at dessert, but it sat heavily in his stomach and he barely finished the small piece before admitting defeat and waiting for Dumbledore to start the speech that would let him escape to the dorm, where Harry's arms would be waiting.

"You ok Vlad?"

"Yeah, think I overloaded on sweets on the train."

"Rookie mistake mate, trust us"

"We know."

Smiling tightly at Fred and George, Vlad tried to ignore the fact he was being stared at by a nightmare in pink fuzz. Even her hat was pink, with a big bow on. Ingrid must be in actual pain witnessing it - she _hated_ pink above all colours.

Eventually the clatter of cutlery began to slow, only a dedicated few (including Harry) still eating as Dumbledore got to his feet. His heart pounded.

"Unfortunately, Professor Burbage has had to tend to a personal emergency" that was an odd thing to call being murdered "and so Muggle Studies classes may be delayed in starting. Aside from that pickle, let me welcome you all to another year at Hogwarts! We welcome a new member of staff to the school. Students, please meet Dolores Umbridge, our new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher!"

There was a smattering of rather polite applause as everyone tried to size up Umbridge. Vlad already knew she worked for the Ministry, was against anything not totally human and magical - up to and including her own squib _brother._

Several other students obviously recognised Fudge's right hand woman, muttering amongst themselves. Dumbledore called for quiet again, the Hall falling silent except for a first year Ravenclaw knocking their cup over in haste to sit up straight.

"Now, this year will-"

Cutting off Dumbledore had _never_ been done, yet the persistent high-pitched "hem-hem" sound emitting from the pink monster was undoubtedly interrupting the headmaster.

"Our new professor has something to say. As you wish Professor Umrbidge."

The woman was barely any taller standing than sitting, squat and Vlad was horrified to discover her skirt was of the same violent hue of pink and furry, her shoes had pink bows on and the whole effect was overpowering.

"Thank you headmaster" her voice was as _hideous_ as her visage "for that warm welcome. And it is so nice to be up here, seeing all your bright, happy faces smiling back at me. I really hope we'll all be good friends."

Students shared bemused looks - she was talking like they were all small children, unappreciated by many of the teenage and older.

"I'll be friends if she doesn't try to lend me her cardigan."

A handful of snickers broke out in a pocket of Gryffindor students, which all quieted under a glare from McGonogall. Vlad struggled to pay attention to Umbridge's grating voice, dreading OWL year classes trying to pay attention to the shrill harpy as his vampiric hearing began to develop.

"... perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."

"I'm sure we would all like to thank Professor Umbridge for that speech" another smattering of polite applause "but I think it's time for bed! First years, your prefects will show you the way."

"Oh! That's us. Come on Draco. First years, this way!"

Hermione leapt into action, but Vlad caught Bertrand gesturing for him to hang back. Harry fell into step with Vlad as they left the steady stream of students vacating the Hall, fairly certain Dumbledore wanted an explanation for the note.

Since Dumbledore was going to be integral - dead or alive - to Vlad's cover as a Death Eater, the conversation was inevitable. Recognising the back room as one he was pushed into when becoming a Triwizard participant by force, Vlad watched as Bertrand stood guard at the door, only Dumbledore coming into the room before the door was locked and silenced.

"Mr Potter, you-"

"Anything you ask me, I guarantee Harry already knows."

"Very well. Is this true?"

He held up Vlad's note, face clouding when Vlad nodded.

"I was there."

"How exactly-"

Vlad sighed, unbuttoned his robes and lifted his jumper and shirt up to expose his branded chest.

"Riddle put me in that Tournament to test if I was a worthy recruit. My freedom came with a price."

Now he was adjusting to Dumbledore's unique magical signature (it changed with age, and he was the oldest magician Vlad knew) he realised it was different, dark magic pulsing around part of his hand.

"Are you injured professor?"

"Cursed, is perhaps the correct word."

"Fatally? Or rather, terminal?"

Harry watched the exchange, growing nervous enough that Vlad could feel it.

"Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity. The magic around your hand seems to be quite settled in, and I assumed you would be cured if possible."

The old man raised a bushy eyebrow, leaving Vlad fairly sure he wasn't being believed. Still, he lifted his arm and pulled back the sleeve, revealing a blackened injury covering his hand like a burn, barely masked by a notice-me- not charm on the fabric of his robes. Harry blinked in surprise, squinting and Vlad wondered if he could see the magic now he had control over his forms.

"It's familiar somehow... what did this?"

"Naivety and the emotions of an old fool. I trust that your placement amongst Voldemort's ranks is a carefully constructed ruse?"

"He wants my best friend dead, what do you think?"

It felt alien to call Harry that now, now he had his mate as his own but he wasn't going to out Harry.

"Severus?"

"Safe. I'm not taking his place ferrying between you two with information and false leads. I have Riddle where I want him, quiet and wary. Back to your original question, yes, I watched him kill Charity Burbage. You'll need a new Muggle Studies teacher, and I would quite like to go to bed headmaster."

"You could not stop it?"

"I'm powerful, but I'm not a hundred death eaters _and_ Voldemort at once powerful."

Did the man really think Vlad didn't feel guilty for being unable to save the woman? He agreed with her philosophy, both in magic and vampirism, being against the superiority of pureblood or purebreed.

"Very well. Off you go Vlad, Harry."

Bertrand quietly enquired as to whether or not Vlad needed him in Hogwarts that night, but Vlad waved him off to go see his boyfriend and their daughter. Harry followed him up a couple of shortcut passages, eventually stopping him when sure they were alone.

"What was that about asking Dumbledore if his curse was fatal?"

"Because Riddle wants you to kill him. If Dumbledore dies of something else, it'll solve that problem."

Harry frowned, brow creasing in thought.

"And him dying is ok with you?"

"I don't know. There's no love lost, he's been pretty naff at keeping the school safe. We've both been kidnapped, death eaters roam the halls at will and werewolves broke into the grounds. And that curse on his hand... I can't place it but I know the magic."

Vlad thought Harry sometimes forgot he was dating a Dracula, that senseless murder and death on the battlefields were two very different things to Vlad - if not to vampires in general.

"We better get upstairs before its suspicious we're gone."

He got the feeling Harry was a little wrong-footed, chest tingling with the first threats of pain and Vlad wasn't sure it was his scar.

* * *

For such a compassionate and emotional vampire, Vlad could certainly come across as a cold bastard sometimes.

Harry pondered it as he brushed his teeth, unsure how he felt about Vlad's nearly-callous disregard for Dumbledore potentially dying. He could see where Vlad was coming from on some level, Dumbledore had a lot of failures behind him and several had cost Vlad in blood, sweat and tears.

And Vlad had been through one _hell_ of a summer, his whole family turned inside out and everything he thought he knew about himself twisted. Harry spat in the sink and rinsed his mouth, sighing to himself. His boyfriend needed support, not judgement.

Vlad and his uncanny sense of Harry's feelings had him staying in his own bed, hunched in pain when Harry tried to go to him. He didn't turn him away, but Harry knew he was scared.

"I'm sorry I'm a monster."

"You're not. You're many things Vlad, but you're not a monster."

He had to mean it; Vlad would know if he didn't. Vlad fell asleep with his hand fisted in Harry's t-shirt, stiff and still curled up like he was hurting. He was coming into his majority as a vampire, but Vlad had never looked younger.

They only had one days respite before school began, and the unsurety of Umbridge was rampant in conversations during that day off. Hermione and Draco had a prefects meeting where they were tasked with patrols and other duties - Draco helpfully made a copy of his schedule, meaning should Vlad have to get around the school undetected, he had an idea of who would be where.

The vampire disappeared for the better part of an hour that afternoon, worrying Harry until he turned up at dinner quiet but unharmed. Dumbledore was watching him intently, and Vlad muttered that he'd been grilled by the headmaster about his 'alliances' and it was exhaustingly dull to repeat himself.

"He wanted information on other students who are on that side" Vlad opened up in bed that night properly "and I had no names to offer since I was the only student at the last 'meeting'. I have plenty of ideas, like the students who are Marked but the minute he starts talking to them, I look like a snitch and Riddle can get suspicious. I didn't go through all that for Dumbledore to get me in a garlic pit."

Harry supposed he could understand that, hoping to reassure Vlad that they were still ok when he reached for Vlad's waistband. Vlad let him, face going slack with pleasure the second Harry's fingers wrapped around his semi-erect cock, filling out against his hand and Harry wondered how different it would feel when full-vampire Vlad was colder than a snake-metabolism made Harry.

Vlad reached for his pyjamas next, their erections settling and nuzzling against the other while Vlad spat on his hand and wrapped it around their lengths. Harry rocked his hips, gasping at the feelings of the sensitive skin sliding against each other. Precum leaked down between them, slicking the slide further and Vlad's hand slipped in his mindless pursuit of climax. Harry took over, holding them together and watching hungrily as Vlad responded.

The fire between them sexually only grew, Vlad's attraction to Harry both physical and biological meaning he was intensely responsive, and that was incredibly appealing to Harry. Vlad arched his back, hips rocking up and grinding harder against Harry. It was impossible not to think if Vlad would respond like that if they were _closer,_ but he also knew that with Vlad's bond to him, that absolutely had to be a step they took when ready emotionally, not just physically.

Vlad came first, hot and wet across Harry's fingers but he kept moving his hips, bringing Harry over the edge with him and taking the brunt of the mess across his stomach. Shuddering as Vlad charmed the mess away, Harry righted his boyfriends bottoms and then his own, the climax leaving them both sleepy and tactile. Vlad murmured "I love you" against his neck repeatedly, even as he fell asleep.

The morning came with their schedules, a deep groan of annoyance from Vlad as he saw 'Defence Against The Dark Arts' after break, with double Potions on the morning. The potions they made became more complex that year in preparation for OWLs, meaning they couldn't always be done in one hour.

"If Umbridge breaks the teachers curse I'm dropping Defence for OWLs."

"Vlad! Did we hear correctly?"

 _"You_ would drop a class?"

"Dear me Fred"

"There's hope to corrupt all geeks George!"

The twins fell silent under a glare from Hermione, who had a fresh wave of "don't corrupt the first years" fuelling her now she had a prefect badge. Harry wasn't sure how to be Quidditch Captain... maybe he could ask Cedric what it specifically meant.

"Isn't it your NEWT year now?"

"Yeah..."

"... so what?"

"We did alright in OWLs"

"As proved by the fact our mother hasn't killed us."

"However, we have a free period first thing"

"And chaos to cause."

"Bye!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as the twins grabbed toast and apples apiece, then ran off. Professor Moonshine was somehow at the classroom before them, despite Harry's certainty the man had been halfway through an omelette when they left the Great Hall.

"Fifth year! OWL year. So, we will be revisiting some key points from your previous years for practice, then moving on to more complex mixtures. For the first half, let's see everyone make a simple Cure for Boils."

Their OWL class seemed surprised to be assigned such a simple potion, but a couple of explosions and cursing said that simple was a good place to start. Living with Severus Snape meant Malfoy Manor students had been doing Potion practice all summer, meaning his and Vlad's and Hermione and Draco's potions were pretty much perfect.

Second half of their class was another simple, basic Wiggenweld potion. The basic healer had served them several times. Vlad and Harry were in the Potions cupboard arguing lightly on which Wiggenweld bark was the better choice - dried or fresher, when Vlad picked up another jar and looked at it closely. Harry could _smell_ it - phoenix ash.

"You alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just realised I have no idea if what I am is the same as say, Fawkes. Am I different? Or is this where all phoenixes come from?"

"No idea, but let's not talk about it where we can be overheard?"

Vlad nodded, putting the jar back and grabbing the dried Wiggenweld bark before Harry could argue. Most of the students had already taken fresh, and Harry agreed with that choice but Vlad disagreed. A Healing student versus a healing creature... Harry gave Vlad the benefit of the doubt, and amazingly Moonshine congratulated them for the best choice.

"Who picked the Wiggenweld bark?"

Vlad raised his hand, nodding when Moonshine asked if it was dried. He threw Harry a smug grin, one Harry wanted to kiss off his stupid face.

"Fresher bark tends to resist the other ingredients for longer. Dried is more agreeable. Five points to Gryffindor! For homework, I want an essay on ingredient reactivity. Any ingredient you choose. Amaze me. Class dismissed!"

Bemused, they cleaned up their stations and headed for the between-classes break in the Great Hall. It was fifteen minutes, with snacks and pumpkin juice on the tables or a place people could work during free periods without being threatened by Madam Pince in the library. It was a little early in the year to be doing work, but September had yet to cool down and so the fresh cold pumpkin juice was welcome to many.

"We better go to Defence. Unless someone wants to massively injure me so I don't have to look at that woman?"

"Nope. Come on Vlad."

Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged a protesting Vlad away, Harry and Draco laughing as they followed. Umbridge stood at the front of the classroom waiting with a sickly smile, and everything in the room - from the bricks to the skeleton suspended from the ceiling - was a faint shade of pink. Umbridge looked particularly cringeworthy in a violent shade of fuchsia, and Harry could see a moving picture of a cat on the woman's desk.

Everyone sat in their seats, unsure what to expect. Umbridge swanned about, throwing a visible sour look to Vlad and Harry watched his boyfriend scratch at his arm absently. Sniffing, Harry detected what was distressing the vampire - Wolfsbane. The woman showed a smidgen of surprise when Draco didn't react, showing that his cure-breed (as Vlad called it) status was unknown and the new teacher still thought he was a werewolf.

"Wands away! Welcome to your first class. Ordinary Wizarding Levels... more commonly known as OWLs. The Ministry has decided to address your splintered and haphazard education in this subject so far."

Harry raised an eyebrow, unsure what that meant - yes, they had had different teachers each year but aside from Lockhart, they had all been competent, and Remus and Tonks had both been pretty great.

"Didn't the Ministry send our last teacher? So... you disagree with your bosses choice?"

Vlad couldn't resist challenging her - he abhorred the Ministry Of Magic. Umbridge seemed to swell with anger, breathing out like an irate marshmallow.

"I was referring to all your _previous_ tutelage."

"Which one? The one being controlled by Voldemort, or the-"

"Silence! Students will raise their hand if they wish to speak in my classroom."

Vlad raised his hand, but others joined in, Harry included.

"Mr Zabini?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything about using defensive magic in these books, and last I checked there's a practical on our OWLs exam."

"I can't think of why you would _need_ to use magic in my classroom."

"We're not gonna use magic?"

Goyle piped up, looking stunned.

"Raise your hand to speak Mr Goyle. It is the opinion of the Ministry that a theoretical understanding of the magic involved will be sufficient to get you through your examinations. And after all, that's what school is all about."

Vlad kept his hand up, as did Harry and eventually Umbridge turned to him.

"Yes Mr Potter?"

"What about preparing us for whats out there? For life after and outside of school?"

"Out there? What do you mean?"

"He means there's a psychopath kidnapping and killing kids and you're not teaching anyone to protect themselves-"

"Detention, Mr Dracula!"

A collective gasp ran through the room - despite extra curricular escapades, Vlad was known as quite a model student, had the lowest detentions record of any Gryffindor boy other than Draco.

"Silence! You are believing in a danger the Ministry has under control, and that is terribly disruptive for your education. Please turn to chapter one and begin reading."

Everyone opened their books to the first page, a tense silence filling the air as Vlad and Umbridge squared off in an intense staring match. Harry caught the faint gold tint of Vlad's eyes as he used a sly tactic to win, forcing Umbridge to turn away and blink, even yawning into her hand.

She continued to scowl through the class, not uttering a sound other than her shoes clacking on the ground. Vlad was asked to stay behind after to arrange his detention, and the Hogwarts rumour mill was in full effect as by the time they reached Transfiguration, McGonogall _clearly_ knew about it.

"How bad can it be? She doesn't seem to know what to do with a wand."

Vlad's face was set in thought over dinner, pushing steak pie around his plate.

"Hmm. Time will tell."

-YDHP-

 **The overwhelming urge to have Ingrid eat Umbridge is strong.**


	10. Twin Plots

**you - you're quite right! But I haven't forgotten, I just worried amongst Vlad's half human revelation, curing lycanthropy, Severus being back and Riddle and all these new family dynamics, that anything else would have just absorbed into the ether. I promise I haven't forgotten Harry's development.**

-YDHP-

Riddle needed to get a hobby.

Vlad hadn't been back at Hogwarts three days when the Mark on his chest started aching something fierce, dialling all the way to to an agonising burn. Keeling over in Transfiguration wasn't his finest moment. McGonogall thankfully barked at everyone to get back to work and sent Harry to escort Vlad to the Hospital Wing.

"What's wrong?"

Knowing there was little Madam Pomfrey could do for him, Vlad kept a wary 'eye' out for invisible aurors, then tugged his boyfriend to the closest available secret passageway.

"Riddle. It's not as bad as my scar, but doesn't respond to pain relief and it's more sudden. Caught me off guard."

Taking a few deep breaths, Vlad focused on the feel of Harry's hands on him, touching his face and his arm and soaking in the scent of his mate. The pain receded to something more manageable, but he was still shaky.

"Come on, I've got Healing next so Madam Pomfrey can check you over."

"Wait. I've got an idea."

Vlad took a few steps back from Harry; a rare occurrence in itself. Closing his eyes, he sought the fire inside himself. His body shrank and sprouted feathers, wings stretching out either side of him as he cocked his head up at Harry.

The pain was gone in this form, dark magic not permeating the purity of the phoenix.

"Did it work? I'm guessing you were hoping for no pain?"

Vlad attempted to nod, unsure how well it translated as a bird.

"I'm going to take the fact you haven't turned back as a yes. Hey, can you cry? We could test your tears and see if they are the real deal."

Vlad trilled, having already learnt from Fawkes that a phoenix could cry on command. Blinking his eyes a couple of times, he tipped his plumed head and let the tears run down into the vial Harry held under his eyes. The vial was capped and put away, then Harry sat down and reached out to stroke Vlad's feathers.

"Puff your chest out for me?"

Feeling daft, Vlad still complied and Harry took off his glasses, investigating the colour of his plumage up close.

"You've got a dark spot here, right where the Mark would be I'm guessing. Least it doesn't hurt."

He craned his neck, but Vlad couldn't see it. He wondered how Fawkes managed to groom himself.

"Next class will start soon. Up for turning back?"

Vlad was relieved to find the effect lingered, dulling the pain even in his humanoid form as he regained four limbs.

"We should go flying together some time."

"We should, seen as it takes my best pleading eyes to get you on a broom."

"That's what Draco is for. What class do we have now?"

"I have Healing, _you_ have... a free period. Go get some rest, I'll see you at dinner."

Harry leant across and kissed him, winning a smile from Vlad as he did so.

"Love you, you weird firebird-bat."

"Says the blackbird Basilisk! Love you too."

Harry grinned, then turned to leave the passage and Vlad continued on up toward the Gryffindor tower. He wouldn't rest, but he could get some reading done in the otherwise near-silent tower. He saw Fred and George hovering near the noticeboard, talking in hushed whispers about legality and decided he _really_ didn't want to know.

A rather tired looking owl was perched on the end of Vlad's bed, being regarded very suspiciously by Phantom from the opposite end of the room.

"Who are you from I wonder?" Vlad reached slowly for the scroll on its leg, recognising the scent on the parchment "ah, France. If you want to go to our Owlery for a rest, feel free."

The owl hooted lazily, then went out of the window in the direction Vlad indicated. He sat on his bed and unrolled the Veela-scent-saturated letter, seeing Fleur's distinctive hand.

 _"Vladimir!"_ why couldn't she just call him Vlad? _"I hope you have been keeping well, and out of trouble."_

"Not so much."

He muttered to himself, chuckling as he read through Fleur's detailing of her summer, her sisters apparently-still-going hero worship of Vlad and more reminders of her and her parents gratitude for his role in protecting the Delacour sisters. Rolling his eyes, Vlad still smiled to himself. Fleur and Viktor had become good friends of his.

She was entering her final year of exams, like Ingrid, and iterated that Vlad had better apply himself as much as he had in the tournament to his exams. Somewhat famed in Hogwarts for being a geek, Vlad didn't get told things like that often as people already assumed he was doing so.

Grabbing a quill and fresh sheaf of parchment, Vlad could not really say a great deal of factual information in his letter, but made sure to enthuse about Fleur's own summer and make a couple of vague allusions to having had some adventures himself. He didn't give much away, but hoped it meant his letter wasn't duller than a History Of Magic class as he rolled it up and charmed it sealed.

The dinner bell was going off as he finished writing, prompting Vlad to put the complete letter in his pocket and heading down for dinner. He relocated Phantom to the common room in case Fleur's owl came back, so the two couldn't antagonise each other. She puffed her fur in annoyance, then curled up by the fire.

Harry's face brightened when he caught sight of Vlad entering the Hall, shuffling to show he had saved his usual seat for him.

"Did you just spend the whole time working?"

"No, why?"

"You have ink on your face and hands."

"Oh. No. I was writing back to Fleur."

Harry nodded, but a couple of Gryffindor boys suddenly became intrigued.

"Fleur Delacour, the hot co-champ from last year?"

"She writes to you?"

"Yes. We're friends.. I think she liked that I didn't just stare at her creepily."

"Yeah but you're a marshmallow Vlad, she ain't your _type."_

"Hence why she can be friends with me you cretinous letch."

The boy frowned, then went back to his dinner.

"Your detention is tonight right?"

Vlad nodded at Harry, spooning soup without eating it. Checking the time and seeing 6:15pm, he sighed.

"Mhmm. Actually, it's in fifteen minutes. She's still up there but I guarantee she's timing me to be sure."

Vlad hurriedly shoved a sandwich in his mouth, knowing he could ask Hogwarts or even Malfoy elves for snacks if none of the ones in his backpack took his fancy.

"I'll see you later."

Harry gave him a reassuring smile but it was hollow, knowing that Vlad was about to present himself to a vampire hater who was protected from the shadows by the Ministry. Vlad wasn't scared, but he liked that Harry was worried for him.

He was outside Umbridge's office for a whole ten minutes before she arrived, wearing Wolfsbane to set his senses off and appearing as a smirking cloud of hideous pink fluff. Even over the Wolfsbane, he could smell a sickly artificial perfume and what he thought might be cats, but he didn't think the woman was an animagus. Maybe she had a cat.

"You're going to be doing some lines for me today."

She indicated a small desk and chair, looking intentionally set up to make him feel small next to her oversized desk. Her office was literally **hell.** Everything was pink and covered in doilies, there were actual-noise-making plates with moving cats on. It hurt his head to be in there, down to the Wolfsbane plant on her window ledge that set his skin prickling.

Vlad reached into his pocket for a quill, but she shook her head.

"Not with your quill. You'll be using a special one of mine."

She held out one with a cruel quill tip, the feather long and black with red splashes through it. His father would love it. He could feel the curse pulsing away on the nib. Seeing her hungry expression, Vlad lifted it and examined it, then flicked the overly large feather.

"Cutting curse quill. Innovative. Intriguing. And of course, _illegal._ While I'm at it... ineffective against vampires."

Her eyes narrowed, mouth curling into a sneer.

"Then you won't mind using it."

"If I know my illegal artifacts, this works by cutting skin and using blood. If it can't cut me, no ink."

Vlad was lying about its effectiveness, but Umbridge didn't know that. It was absolutely illegal though. Technically blood magic. Dark magic.

"Fine."

She reached out for the quill, but Vlad withdrew his hand.

"I'll use it, but I'll need ink. You went to all the trouble of asking me to use it after all."

Even on her turf carrying vampire-deterrent, Umbridge wasn't quite able to maintain the cold facade. She was afraid of him. A bottle of red ink sat on her desk; perfect. Vlad twisted his hand at his side, beckoning it over to levitate itself to his little set up.

"You know you can't get rid of me right? Who and what I am makes me more important to the Ministry than even you, regardless of just how _close_ you and the Minister are."

Her face twitched; his instinct about the pride of place picture of Fudge was right. And disturbing.

"That's a second detention for slander Dracula."

"Give me as many as you like, but you'll have to come second to tutoring. Unless of course you want to go to Bertrand yourself, tell my vampire tutor you want to mess with his timetable?"

No matter how he hated his vampirism, no matter how much her office threw his senses off... if there was one thing a vampire could taste on the air like a delicious scent? It was _fear._

"Third detention. Write your lines."

Vlad sat in his seat, stomach twisting with nausea. He _enjoyed_ terrifying this woman more than he should. He kept his face cool, impudent.

"You haven't told me what you want me to write."

"I must respect my superiors."

"I hope you aren't counting yourself. Vampires outnumber wizards by far, and magical vampires are the future of the relationship between the races. Remember that professor."

She sneered, fixing her eyes on her desk. Vlad took a deep breath and tried to focus his magic on his hand; this was going to hurt, but Umbridge couldn't win the mental match between them. A glamour would stop her seeing the words cut into his skin, but he needed to stop himself bleeding on the desk where she would see. The red ink would at least mask his blood on the paper.

Concentrating on a notice-me-not charm, he dipped the quill in the red ink, then put it to paper and forced himself not to react to the pain as he carved the words in his own blood. The cuts on his hand smarted like they had salt rubbed in, but he had taken far worse pains before. He made sure to dip the quill regularly, dragging the cursed tip across parchment over and over - _I must respect my superiors._

Watching the sky darken outside, he knew it was another test from her that there was no time limit on her detention. He kept writing, feeling the cuts stop healing over after an hour and a half, focusing on the time when he could get it healed - the cursed quill wouldn't be fixed by ordinary healing magic. His hands could well be forever marked by the Unbreakable Vow, and now if Umbridge continued this form of detention he may end up with scars on his other hand.

Three hours in, his wrist cramped from writing and constantly cleaning the blood from the desk without notice was getting on his nerves. Umbridge grew visibly more irate as Vlad displayed no injury, limiting her satisfaction from the otherwise painful experience.

"I think that's enough for tonight."

Vlad laid down his quill, leaning back in his chair as she stood and circled the desk. When she reached for his masked but injured hand, he snarled and she visibly recoiled.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Tomorrow night then."

"I have tutoring. My final Blood Test is next month."

Umbridge was about to argue, but she remembered that meant arguing with vampires and backed down.

"The following evening. Same time."

She turned to go back to her hideous pink chair and Vlad pocketed the quill, sure she had another one but at least she would know he had the evidence. Maybe that would at least stop her using it on others.

Out in the hallway, he made for the first unoccupied passage he could find and let out a low, pained sound as his hand pulsed agonisingly. Sick cow... she wasn't going to last the year if he had any say in it. For now, he needed to get back to Harry.

* * *

Vlad felt different. Harry couldn't work out how or why, but something was off. He was holding himself oddly, and made for the dormitory immediately even though Harry and Hermione had waited up in the common room to see him return.

"That's odd. Go after him, you can write me how he is."

Harry nodded, heading straight up the stairs and Vlad wasn't in the dorm. Seamus, Dean and Neville were still downstairs playing Exploding Snap, and Draco with his girlfriend. Turning for the bathroom, he gasped as the smell of blood hit him.

Vlad's blood.

He was washing blood off his hand, but Harry struggled to see the injury.

"Did you kill her?"

Vlad turned toward him, eyes wide with horror.

"What? No!"

"Then why are you covered in blood?"

His boyfriend sighed and a charm around his hand dropped, revealing lines scratched into his hand that spelled out crudely hewn words.

"I must respect my superiors. How..."

Vlad cut him off, notably having a revelation.

"Do you still have my tears?"

Normally that would be an odd question, but Harry nodded and pulled the vial out. Vlad took it, dripping the tears across his cut hand and the bleeding slowed, then stopped as they healed him.

"At least I know how to cure the wounds. Umbridge made me write lines with this."

Vlad pulled out a large black and red quill, handing it to Harry. He took it, not seeing anything amiss until he looked at the tip, which hummed with thin strings of black glowing around it. Dark and magical, the tip so sharp it glinted in the light like metal.

"A quill cut your hand?"

"Cutting curse quill. Uses your own blood as ink."

"That can't be legal."

"No, it's absolutely illegal. I doubt this is her only one, but I'm hanging on to it just in case."

Harry handed it back, then lifted Vlad's hand and looked at the now unblemished skin. Vlad watched on as Harry ran his thumb over it, searching his boyfriends face for pain.

"Are you alright now?"

"Fine. I better bottle up more tears tomorrow, I have detention the night after. I managed to get myself another couple arguing with her today."

Harry rolled his eyes but pulled Vlad into a hug, wishing this vampire idiot had a concept of his own safety and not to antagonise bad guys. Then again, Vlad got a kick out of winding up Voldemort - of _course_ he would want to annoy an evil teacher.

"Shall we not get caught hugging in the bathroom by our dorm mates?"

"Good call."

Vlad recognised the owl that appeared in the dorm while he was chewing a piece of fudge. Which was surprising, as most owls avoided biters vociferously.

"This is Fleur's owl, he's obviously used to creatures. You have any owl treats?"

Harry dug through his trunk, finding a bag of owl nuts and holding one out to the sleek white owl. He hoped Hedwig didn't see that and think he was cheating on her with another owl... Merlin that sounded ridiculous.

The owl took his proffered treat, crunching it and hooting gratefully. Vlad tied his reply to the owl, then backed away.

"Be careful out there ok?"

The owl hooted again, then leapt out of the window with spread wings and soared off. Vlad resumed eating a few sweets, rebuilding himself after _three hours_ of magically hiding the damage from Umbridge and showing no pain.

"Shouldn't you report this to someone?"

"Who? Anyone I went to I would have to either admit how I healed it, or say it doesn't work on vampires. Then Umbridge would know it hurt, and I'm not giving her the satisfaction."

"Seriously? Vlad, this is like medieval torture."

"I'm a Dracula. That's practically in my blood."

Harry frowned; he didn't like when Vlad fell back on that. It wasn't who he was, not really. Vlad wouldn't agree to report Umbridge, so Harry gave up on that route and let it slide. His boyfriend seemed to cheer up when that was dropped, leaving Harry wondering if he was missing something else. Still, for now Vlad was seemingly alright.

They had Defence again the next day, and Umbridge wasn't done hurting Vlad it seemed. Even their classmates could smell it - ones with no extra-species-enhanced senses.

"Why does this room reek?"

Vlad was twitching, sweat beading at the sides of his neck as he tried to ignore the heavy effects that the Transylvanian Wolfsbane was having on him. Fifth year Defence students... there was a high chance he would be outed as a biter, the symptoms recognisable to anyone who knew the smell was wolfsbane.

Casting a glance around the room, Harry could see multiple pots of the stuff wasn't easy to get hold of, nor cheap. This wasn't just unfair, it was intentionally cruel. Vlad wasn't as affected by normal strains of Wolfsbane, nor did it usually affect him so at a distance, which said there was just so much of it. Vlad was paler than usual, muscles starting to shake.

He didn't practice nearly as often as he should, but Harry did his best to focus on setting light to the Wolfsbane leaves. One by one, they sparked and crackled and incinerated themselves. Everyone started looking around, including Umbridge, providing a distraction from Vlad as he visibly recovered from the plant clearing.

Nobody had a wand out. Umbridge couldn't blame anyone directly, though it was _clear_ she suspected Vlad's abilities. Harry knew Vlad wouldn't have risked it, because his flames randomly burned too hot and he couldn't control his magic as much while shaky and nauseous.

"Professor?"

Parvati Patil raised her hand, an exceptionally pissed off Umbridge whipping round.

"Confessing?"

"N-no. I was just wondering why you had exploding plants in here? Was it a test?"

"They weren't supposed to- no. Books out! Wands away! Chapter two. There will be no need to talk. Mr Dracula, stay behind."

Knowing what that woman might do to his boyfriend, Harry refused to let it happen.

"What for?"

"Silence Mr Potter!"

"You can't just blame one person with no proof. So why does he have to stay behind?"

"Detention Mr Potter! You can join your friend in staying behind. Now turn to chapter two. _Silently."_

Now Vlad was visibly distressed - Harry's detention could involve Umbridge hurting his mate. His instincts clearly rose up, trying to suppress the urge to attack her and defend his mate. Harry watched Vlad's knuckles go white against his pale skin, gripping the book so hard it was amazing it didn't tear in two.

Hermione gave him a reproachful look, but she obviously sympathized with Harry defending Vlad who had done nothing wrong that lesson. As the class filed out, Vlad and Harry hung back but stood close, waiting for Umbridge to start on them.

"Since you were so keen to defend your friend, you'll be taking the detention he couldn't this evening."

Vlad growled, a clear and animalistic warning sound Harry thought he probably shouldn't have enjoyed so much. Umbridge recoiled, fear pouring off her for a second. Harry had a momentary urge to turn into a Basilisk.

"Remember I have your quill. I'm sure you have more, but I'll be happy to provide proof of some jumped up Ministry lackey torturing the boy who lived. Who do _you_ think will come out of that unscathed?"

She vibrated with suppressed rage, looking between the two and clearly regretting trying to take them on together.

"I'll see you at six thirty for detention Mr Potter. Now both of you get out of my sight."

"Next time you plant Wolfsbane in here Professor, do try to keep it to a level even the humans can't smell. I only wish I knew who set it on fire, I want to send them some Honeydukes."

Harry had a bolt of inspiration hearing Vlad talk, making a mental note to talk to the Weasley twins as soon as possible. If anyone could help there, they could.

"Try not to worry Vlad. She can't handle us."

"If she tries to use that quill on you, I'll hypnotise her into leaping off the Astronomy tower."

His tone was still laced with threat, muscles tense and Harry absolutely believed he meant it. It was difficult to match morals with instincts, knowing Vlad couldn't help but want to protect Harry at all costs. He didn't exactly condone _murder_ for it, but it was still a powerful knowledge that someone would go so far for him.

Harry getting detention was the talk of the school, prompting the Weasley twins to come over and congratulate him in person for both he and Vlad getting detention before them that year.

"Knew you had it in you"

"Legacy of the Maruaders!"

Harry grinned, then checked the time.

"Hey, walk with me? I have an idea."

The notion of a prank caught their attention, the seventeen year old twins nodding eagerly and following Harry out of the Hall. Vlad was practically throttling Umbridge in his mind judging by the expression on his face, watching Harry go sadly.

"So Harry"

"How can we help?"

"I want something that looks like Honeydukes, but that doesn't exactly agree with the eater."

"Prank sweets?"

"You came to the right place!"

"How serious are we talking?"

"Who are we pranking?"

Peering around, Harry simply asked

"Who do you think?"

"Ah."

"Revenge."

"Leave it with us"

"And don't tell Hermione."

They left him one corridor away, and Harry continued on to Umbridge's office, loitering in the hallway. She stormed along it some twenty minutes later, looking like a puffed up marshmallow full of rage. She threw open the door to what Harry already knew would be pink hell, pointing sharply.

"In!"

The fleeting urge growing, Harry dropped to one knee.

"Just need to tie my shoe."

She turned around and Harry took his chance, closing his eyes and letting the transformation take him over. When Umbridge turned back, there was a sixty foot snake in the hallway. Satisfyingly, she screamed and fainted on the spot. Harry swapped back, standing back on two limbs and considering the vaguely itchy skin hugely worth it.

He immediately ran for the Hospital Wing, appearing flustered when he got there.

"Madam Pomfrey! Professor Umbridge collapsed!"

She leapt into action, following Harry toward his detention with her bustling shuffle that moved her surprisingly fast and brandishing her wand. Umbridge was just coming around, Madam Pomfrey waving a few spells over her.

"Are you alright professor?"

"Hm? I saw... where is it?"

"Where is what Dolores?"

"The snake! I saw a..."

She trailed off, clearly seeing nothing of the sort.

"Are you sure you feel ok?"

Standing to her unimpressive height, Umbridge shooed off the nurse.

"I'm fine. You can go."

"Hmph. If you feel sick, please come and see me. You did the right thing Mr Potter."

As Madam Pomfrey bustled away, Umbridge looked at Harry. He threw his best dark smile - an art spending time with vampires - to bare his fangs, then in a foolhardy show, took off his glasses and rubbed at suddenly serpentine eyes. She squeaked, then seemed to realise it was 'just Harry'.

"You're going to be writing some lines for me."

Harry heard her voice shake, then saw the quill - identical to the one Vlad had had, complete with swirls of dark magic all around the tip. Harry knew she was testing him. Picking it up, he did his best to look unaware.

"I haven't got any ink."

"That's fine, it d-doesn't need any. I want you to write "I will stay out of things that don't concern me" and you will do it in silence!"

Her voice was shrill, painful on his ears but Harry simply shrugged and put quill to paper. Her eyes were hungry as she watched Harry frown. He _felt_ the curse try to cut him, but his hardened scaly skin wouldn't allow it.

"Professor, I don't think this quill works."

"It takes a moment."

Harry kept trying, but no matter how much he pressed it down his skin wouldn't break, wouldn't give up his venom laced blood. The parchment tore, but his scales held.

"I don't understand!"

"Shall I just use my own?"

"Yes, I suppose you must."

She looked very unhappy, the dainty pink china in her hand shaking with suppressed rage as Harry pulled out a quill and ink pot from his bag, remembering to use his wand to pop the charm-locked cork open.

Her cursed quill ineffective, Harry's biggest problems were boredom and wrist cramp. Hopefully Vlad would be pacified by the knowledge Harry had resisted the curse and wouldn't go killing Umbridge. Not that she didn't deserve _some_ retribution.

Harry grinned to himself as he thought of the Weasley twins hard at work helping set up a prank. He kept his eyes down, not wanting Umbridge to see him smile.

-YDHP-

 **Poor Umbridge hallucinating a random basilisk in the halls...**


	11. Impossible Tasks

**You - Prankster Harry is always good! And yeah, his basilisk skin makes him more resilient, though not impervious to injury and magic.**

 **I'll confess... and it may be clear, but this story has been leaving me somewhat disheartened lately. I knew I would probably lose some interest when I upped it to M, because not everyone reads fanfiction with sex in, but now I feel like I get no feedback or excitement from readers (aside from You, of course) and it's making me wonder if there's much point putting in the mental energy that Chosen Two costs this chronically anxious, self-deprecating mess of an author.**

 **This isn't me begging for reviews or any of that... but I guess I do wish people would straight up say 'this is awful' or 'I still enjoy it'. Year Four seemed to go so well, now I feel like I'm wasting my time even if I know I'm meant to write for an audience of one.**

 **Ok, sad rambling over. On with the chapter.**

-YDHP-

Vlad couldn't focus much on his tutoring, much to an exasperated Bertrand's mild irritation. He kept focusing instead on his sense of Harry's feelings, confused by the amusement, the exertion and then the confusion.

At no point did he feel his mate was in _pain,_ but Vlad was still on edge. Bertrand eventually got tired of his distraction and pacing.

"Get out of here. You aren't learning anything."

"Sorry, its just that woman..."

"Your mate is at risk, I understand. Go. Try not to murder her."

Vlad packed up his stuff, hurriedly thanked his tutor and hastened to get down to where Harry was in detention. He could sense his mate still in there, sitting down and wrapping himself in Harry's Invisibility Cloak to wait. He didn't care how long he was there. He was waiting to see Harry was safe.

As it turned out; he waited two hours.

His backside ached, his legs were stiff and his back creaked ominously when he got up, but Harry looked unharmed and he didn't smell injured. Vlad noticed Harry could sense he was there, looking right at the invisible spot Vlad stood, walking purposefully toward the tapestry that hid a staircase from third floor to sixth, and a side room full of empty cauldrons.

"Vlad?"

He shucked the Cloak, folding it and carefully placing Harry's family heirloom into his bags front pocket again.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So... how was detention?"

He looked at Harry's hands closely, but there were no cuts or blood. Harry let him run his thumbs over the back of them, reassuring himself.

"She didn't use the quill?"

"Oh, she _tried._ My scales wouldn't let it cut me. No cut, no ink. I tore the parchment trying but not a scratch."

"Huh. Basilisk resistance. You'll have to thank Samael for me."

"I will. That reminds me, he's due a feed. Kitchens?"

"Sure. I could do with a snack."

Harry - practicing his own invisibility skills, using a spell instead of his Cloak - and Vlad headed down to the kitchens, greeted eagerly by the elves despite the late hour.

"Masters Harry and Vlad! What can Bonnie do for yous?"

"Harry here needs one of those big hunks of raw meat, and I'm just straight up hungry."

Vlad knew his appetite would begin to fluctuate as he neared his transformation, so he was going to make the best of the time where he could eat comfortably _normal_ things. He would be imitating Harry within the year, though perhaps not in such large portions. His eyes took themselves over to where Harry and his broad muscles were, forearms working to take the huge lump of basilisk feed. It had a shield charm of sorts around it, preventing it from leaking on the floor.

Plied with leftover chicken and gravy pie plus vegetables, Vlad watched Harry eye the raw meat longingly before joining him and taking the cakes the elves offered happily.

"Have you ever eaten in your other form?"

Harry's eyes flashed with amusement, piqueing Vlad's interest.

"No, but I haven't spent loads of time in it, and always in controlled places. What about yours?"

"I need to change and cry in a jar. Got detention tomorrow, and the night after that. Probably more by the time I'm done tomorrow."

"You know, you really should try not to-" Harry couldn't finish, bursting into mirthful laughte "sorry, I sounded like Hermione and really, I'm in no place to scold you. I changed in front of her, she screamed and fainted."

For a second, Vlad imagined Umbridge fainting at the sight of Harry naked. He often came close himself. Then he realised.

"In a classroom?"

"No, outside her office. Only for a few seconds, but it was so funny. I ran to get Madam Pomfrey like a good student, Umbridge sat up demanding to know where the snake had gone."

Vlad joined in laughing, now realising why Harry had been projecting so much amusement earlier.

"What happened after that?"

"Well... I might have accidentally had snake eyes. Just for a second. Then obviously that quill didn't work. She wasn't happy."

"She's lucky she's breathing"

Vlad stabbed at his potato perhaps a little too venomously, Umbridge and her Wolfsbane really getting under his skin. Almost literally. Ingrid would suffer even more, being transformed.

"Could always have her eaten."

"Don't tempt me. I wouldn't want Samael to choke on that cardigan."

Harry grinned, chuckling around a mouthful of toffee and apple cake. One of the Hogwarts elves' finest inventions, Vlad decided as he ate a piece.

"We should get back, prefect rounds ended ten minutes ago so we can beat the Ministry replacements coming on."

Nodding, Harry took charge of his meatball thing while Vlad accepted more cake and sweets from the elves, plus a box of pastries. Well... if their dorm mates wanted, midnight feast or lazy breakfast he supposed.

They made it to the dorm without being seen, though Harry had to mask the huge meatball for a minute as Neville was getting up for the loo. Eyeing them sleepily, the other boy looked confused.

"Were you both in detention?"

Vlad shook his head as he sat on the edge of his bed, unlacing his shoes.

"No, I had tutoring, met Harry en route. Then we went to the kitchens because we were both hungry. Hence the cake over there."

"Oh."

Neville continued on his way, crawling back into bed and emitting soft snores a few minutes later. Checking the rest of their dorm mates were asleep, Harry pulled out the trunk Samael lived in and opened it up, dropping down with his meaty offering. Vlad let him have that time with his familiar, grabbing his pyjamas and a glass jar, then heading into the bathroom.

Hopefully nobody walked in as Vlad shifted forms, stretching his wings and managing to awkwardly lean over the jar, dripping tears from his feathered head to land in the receptacle. Half full, he figured that would do and shifted back, almost knocking the jar over in his somewhat less graceful human-ish form.

Harry didn't resurface from the trunk until Vlad was changed for bed, had brushed his teeth and was flicking through a book on vampire bloodlines to pass the time. His mate smiled, putting his trunk away and changing into pyjama bottoms before detouring to clean up for bed. Vlad watched him go, hugely enjoying Harry's bare torso. He was broad and muscular without being overly vascular - he looked _strong_ but not vain.

He invited himself (though realistically, Vlad knew Harry was _always_ invited) onto Vlad's bed, sitting at the other end to chew on some biscuits (hadn't he just brushed his teeth?) so as not to get crumbs over the part of the bed they would be sleeping in. Vlad put his book aside and charmed the curtains to stay closed and silent, waiting for Harry to be done eating so he would lay across Vlad like his own personal vampire pillow.

"Be careful with showing your form around Umbridge. If she gets suspicious, she'll have you watched."

"I know. I just couldn't resist. It would get a bit obvious if she only saw a Basilisk when I was around."

Playing his fingers through Harry's hair, Vlad chuckled.

"I would love to see her sell that one though. Boy who lived; secretly a giant snake."

"The weirdest truths are still truths."

"Mmm. True."

He could feel Harry rolling his eyes, but both were growing tired and sleep beckoned both Basilisk and Phoenix to dreams together.

* * *

Umbridge was oddly tame and quiet for a few days. Vlad even said his detentions weren't with the cursed quill.

Of course, she was planning something.

Vlad recoiled when they got to the door of the classroom, Wolfsbane strung around it like Christmas tinsel in September. Umbridge was swanning up and down the classroom, looking rather pleased with herself as Vlad began to sweat. It was going to get increasingly obvious he eas affected, meaning Umbridge could out him without outing him.

Remembering the first incidents he had with his magic when Samael first bit him, Harry had an idea.

Fishing a piece of scrap parchment out of his pocket, Harry rolled it into a loose cylinder and dropped it to the floor. Everyone distracted by sitting in their chairs and pulling out the terrible books, Harry charmed the parchment to look and wriggle like a small snake, sending it after their teacher and waiting for it to start slithering around her leg.

He might start bringing Lily to class.

"Professor?"

Harry said it politely, hand in the air.

 _"What,_ Potter?.

She snapped viciously.

"There's something moving on your leg."

Her screams could have woken the undead. While everyone watched as she threw herself around the room in a panic to throw off the snake, Harry managed to burn away the Wolfsbane hung around the door with little notice except a shaking Vlad.

"Thanks."

Vlad murmured it under his breath, wiping his sweaty forehead as the tremors eased.

"I'm not done yet."

Harry pulled out the next part of his revenge plan - any Gryffindor knew that Honeydukes tended to be wrapped in gold, and that the Weasley-warning for prank sweets was to use red or silver foil instead, so none of his nearby classmates asked about the chocolate Harry pulled out.

One square was perfectly safe, marked with a W. The easiest way to get prank food eaten by a professor - a tried and true method - was to be caught eating it in class. Nobody ever ate things confiscated _from_ the twins, but Harry wasn't a Weasley twin. Cancelling the charms on his 'snake' joke, Harry decided to pitch joke snakes to the twins as Umbridge shook, flustered and angry.

"Alright! Who was it?"

Crabbe piped up dumbly in response.

"Who was what Professor?"

"That... that **snake!** Was it you Slytherins?"

Seizing the chance, Harry broke off the 'safe' chunk of chocolate and popped it in his mouth just as Umbridge turned around. Perfectly timed to be caught.

"Potter!"

"Hm?"

"Are you _eating_ in my class?"

Harry shook his head, knowing full well he was. He rather unsubtly looked to be pocketing something, something she came and snatched from his hand.

"Detention, Mr Potter! Be thankful it's not two for lying."

She backed away pretty quickly when she realised how close she was to Vlad, who wanted to leap across and kill the woman judging by the look in his eyes. Harry swallowed his chocolate, burying his head in his book and trying to look sufficiently scolded for Hermione's sake - she hadn't seen the foil wrapping was the wrong colour. Or she had, and thought two pranks per class was too much.

The room fell silent as everyone read their books in sheer and total boredom, time ticking away as everyones brains stagnated. Even Hermione stifled a yawn in her hand.

Then it happened - Umbridge couldn't resist the chocolate. Different chunks did different things, and the first few weren't as noticable. A sly chunk slipped into her mouth first had Umbridge suffering hiccups, which began to emit large blue bubbles.

"What _hic_ is the _hic_ meaning of this? _Hic"_

"Must be Droobles gum inside the chocolate professor."

Draco, with his prefect badge and winning smile of pure grace, answered. Prank-helping prefect - responsibilities didn't trump brotherhood.

"Is she allowed to eat my food?"

Harry pretended to be distressed at the loss of his chocolate, and Umbridge immediately looked uncomfortable in between hiccups.

"How _hic_ long does this _hic_ last?"

The room was starting to look like a bubble party, several dozen hovering over their heads and diluting the impact of the pink-stained classroom.

"Normally about five minutes."

Students were beginning to lazily bat the bubbles around, pushing them out of the way of their books or trying to get them to stick to the walls or each other. Eventually the effect on Umbridge wore off, the woman glaring at anyone who snickered. She pulled her wand and Vanished the bubbles... well, she tried to.

They began to multiply, changing colour and popping with loud bangs only to leave two smaller bubbles in their place.

"The bubbles are exploding, everyone out!"

One student called, everyone grabbing their bags and running for the door as Umbridge kept trying to curse the bubbles out of existence. Harry wanted to give the Weasley twins a medal. They all lined the hallway, a passing Auror spotting them and noticing the loud bangs and Umbridge shrieks emanating from the room.

"What's going on here?"

"Professor Umbridge stole my chocolate and now there are exploding bubbles in there."

Harry maintained his innocent expression, watching the Auror brandish his wand and charge in. They waited with bated breath as more explosions sounded, finally falling silent as the five minute mark lapsed. Both teacher and Auror came out, _covered_ in blue Droobles gum residue.

"Potter! Detention! Again!"

"Because you ate his chocolate?"

"You can join him Dracula!"

"Hang on, because he pointed out you were unjustified?"

"Zabini! You too!"

Her face was turning red with irritation, bringing out the hideous shade of her clothes. The Auror excused himself, picking gum out of his hair. She opened her mouth to continue berating them, but the bell for end of class rang out and everyone split. He, Vlad and Blaise had to wait to be assigned detention, remarkably all getting one on the same night.

Had she learned nothing?

"You want to tell Gin about this or shall we? She'll be ever so proud you defended a lion."

Blaise cracked a small smile, shrugging.

"I didn't do it for that. She was out of order. I better go, Theo is waiting for me."

Vlad grinned at Harry as they walked toward Transfiguration, unsurprisingly glared at by McGonogall as they slipped into their seats a few minutes late.

"We were-"

"I am already aware. You will remain behind after class, you have interrupted enough learning today."

They immediately lowered their faces to their work - McGonogall was _much_ scarier than Umbridge. The class was on Vanishing, as Vanishing Charms were easier than Conjuring, meaning they worked up to it. Except Vlad, who had been mastering magic years in advance of it being taught - but then he was a vampire. If there were enough magical vampires to put a school together specifically for them, they would probably learn _everything_ well in advance.

Lingering after class, McGonogall waited for the room to be clear before she pointed them to seats, adjusting her glasses perched severely on her nose.

"I realise you are both being unfairly targeted by our newest member of staff, but antagonizing her is not going to help."

Vlad nodded silently, though Harry knew it wouldn't stop him. Rather than pretend to be contrite, Harry defended them both.

"She's using illegal methods in detention. I don't think that matches up to popping bubbles."

"I beg your pardon?"

"She has this... this quill. It cuts your hand when you write with it."

McGonogall raised an eyebrow, turning to Vlad for confirmation. He sighed, not happy to be put on the spot.

"It's true."

"You have proof?"

"I stole one of them after detention. It's in my bag."

"Would you go and- oh."

Vlad pulled his backpack out of his pocket, enlarging it and handing over the large, lethal quill. McGonogall turned it over in her hands, eyeing the cursed tip.

"We can't simply sack Umbridge with the might of the Ministry behind her."

"So she gets away with this. Her bigotry against part-humans and me is one thing, but there are eleven year old _children_ in this school not being taught to defend themselves, and possibly being tortured. The Ministry are afraid of the VHC, and they would have to be pretty sure of no backlash to go up against the golden boy here. Nobody else is in such a position to challenge her."

Harry rolled his eyes - he was no golden boy. McGonogall sighed, contemplating Vlad.

"And you're willing to take this sort of thing?"

"If it keeps her attentions on me? Yes. It won't be the first time."

Vlad's hand twitched toward his chest, where their teacher obviously had been told by Dumbledore that Vlad was Marked, and why.

"It isn't your job."

"Like its not Harry's job to defeat Voldemort. It's my choice. I'm not asking for your permission."

She surveyed them more closely, possibly noting how attuned they were to the other and Harry realised for the first time, he didn't mind the idea of someone working out their relationship. If there were no need for secrecy with Riddle, he would have comfortably gone public with Vlad.

"You think two fifteen year old boys can stand up between both Voldemort and the Ministry?"

"Two boys? No. Me and Harry? Absolutely."

Tapping her wizened hand upon the desk, McGonogall chewed on Vlad's words before nodding.

"Then I'll support you where I can. I can't fault you for displaying buckets of Gryffindor spirit now can I?"

Vlad grinned, clearly plotting something.

"Best support you can offer is to turn a blind eye to the Weasley twins wherever possible. I realise they cause trouble, but they take protecting the younger students incredibly seriously."

"Then you should forewarn them not to be found by me."

"We will."

"Off you go. Be careful Vladimir, the threat of your kind can only hold them back so long."

"It only needs to last until my birthday. No DADA professor has lasted over a year since we got here."

They left, remarkably bolstered by the support from their usually stern professor.

It really showed how serious things were.

As they reached the Hall for dinner, there were many hushed whispers about Umbridge's empty seat.

"I heard she can't stop sneezing glitter!"

"I heard she kept quacking like a duck!"

Harry tried to suppress his smile. Apparently the bubbles hadn't dissuaded the teacher from her stolen chocolate.

-YDHP-

 **I think I enjoy torturing Umbridge too much. Expect more of this.**


	12. Required Learning

**You - The thing about no follows and favourites is that I have a view counter - so I know that more people read it now than in Year Four, for example. So I worry that even though people are reading it, that its so bad they don't want to bother reviewing/favouriting... Ah well. It's not too bad updating weekly unless its a really bad week for my mental health lately.**

 **However, its actually really starting to wear on me that nobody seems to enjoy this, and I'm considering shortening the story to get it over with quicker rather than get so disheartened I abandon it**

 **Guest - it took you until year _five_ to notice they were gay? Where have you been?**

 **Caz231163 - thank you!**

 **Hope - thank you!**

 **Incorrect use of names for team players ahead.**

-YDHP-

"I'm so bored!"

"It's homework Harry, it's not supposed to be exciting."

Harry glared at his boyfriend, who was currently fang-deep in his Ancient Runes homework. Harry turned to his Healing essay, which was on the basic differences between healing charms for different injuries.

"Still. I want to go flying."

"On a broom or with your wings?"

"Either or is better than this."

"You're Quidditch Captain. You want practice? Go book the pitch for training."

"Oh. Yeah. I should do that. I haven't even arranged try-outs yet."

Vlad pushed a sheet of parchment over to him, which Harry picked up. It contained instructions on how he booked the pitch, what his responsibilities were in terms of safety and fairness at try outs and just showed Vlad being generally useful.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Figured your mind is a little busy, so I made you a list. Mostly because Draco is itching to try out again."

"You're amazing. Do I tell you that?"

"You do. I won't complain about hearing it again though."

Vlad offered him a smile, hair hanging _just so_ in his eyes and Harry desperately wanted to kiss him, but while they were alone in the dormitory at the moment, anyone could walk in. Vlad seemed to sense that, going back to his translations.

"Is understanding magic really that important to you?"

Vlad shrugged, humming as he completed another translation.

"I'm immortal. I'll need a hobby."

"Well so am I. I still don't get Runes."

The vampire smiled, finishing the last of his homework. Harry wasn't even half done. Vlad didn't lecture him on that though, just searched through his books for Arithmancy and got started on some squiggly looking mathematics.

"How mad do you think Umbridge is about those Ton-tongue Toffees getting mixed in with her sweets?"

Vlad chuckled - he'd been the one to sneak them in during his latest detention.

"Not nearly as upset as she'll be when Fred and George perfect their Fever Fudge. Although I'm partial to letting her eat them while they still give you massive pus-filled boils on your-"

The dormitory door opened, revealing a fuming Hermione and a mildly terrified looking Draco.

"We may as well get another bed in here, Hermione is practically an honorary boy."

"Why does she look so angry?"

"Did you know the twins were testing those sweets on first years?"

"Uh... no?"

"Did the first years agree to it?"

"That's not the point Vlad!"

"Sure it is. Gryffindors are pranksters. And Fred and George have tested every one of those sweets on themselves already."

Hermione growled, throwing her hands out angrily.

"Ugh, you sound just like them! Their excuse was that they were being paid."

"Which means the first years _volunteered._ Hermione, Fred and George wouldn't _hurt_ them. They are like universal big brothers. Be fair... they would have slipped a few prank sweets to the unknowing without a volunteer anyway."

"And that's not ok!"

"Hermione, the whole magical world is teetering at the edge of falling apart. You wanna be a perfect prefect and penalise two students who want to make people laugh? Fine. But unless they actually hurt someone, I'm with the twins."

Hermione and Vlad stared each other down, but within a couple of minutes she visibly deflated as all the steam left her.

"Alright. I see your point. I'm still not happy with them testing on eleven year olds."

"I'll tell them to open it up to all years and no slipping them to _anyone_ unknowingly until their tests are done."

"And I'll make sure they know to go to Madam Pomfrey if anything goes wrong. We like jokes Hermione, not hazards."

Hermione looked between them, sighed loudly before turning and leaving. Despite them both being rather rock-headed, Harry couldn't remember the last time he saw Vlad and Hermione properly disagree on anything. Though he supposed Vlad was going through the most tumultuous year of his life... it would be bizarre if he didn't change at least a little bit.

Harry and Vlad had the promised chat with the Weasley twins, who took their advice on board and promised to try and not get caught by Hermione again. It would have to do. Then Harry set up Quidditch try outs, a truly nerve-wracking experience.

Two _dozen_ people turned up - two of whom weren't even Gryffindors. Harry tried not to flap, but while he failed at that, Vlad was standing next to him with a clipboard to take notes while Harry was in the air.

"Ok, if you're trying out for Chaser, over there. Keeper, there. Beaters, here and on the off chance you want to be Harry's replacement, that side. Jenkins, you're a first year, so you can't try out."

The first year scowled and stormed off, leaving Harry with three groups - nobody wanted to try out for Harry's spot. Draco was in the Keepers section, the twins in Beaters. Harry didn't envision many changes to the team other than Draco moving from reserve - no Quidditch during fourth year meant nobody had technically been on the team the previous year.

Harry had to divide up the twelve trying out for Chaser, putting Ginny, Angelina, Katie and Alicia seperately in each of the groups of three to ensure their group practices of years before didn't offer an unfair advantage. It did mean each of the four Keepers, each was up against a real challenge. Cormac McLaggen suffered a crushing defeat with Ginny's group, Kirke did alright against Alicia's, Sloper completely mis-timed his catch and took Katie's goal to his face (Ginny kindly took him to the Hospital Wing).

Angelina was the only one of her group to get the Quaffle past Draco, the other four saved. Harry was already confident Draco was the best candidate, but that was based on years of summer Quidditch together.

Beaters try-outs were more tricky, but again Vlad came to his rescue. He conjured up a row of targets, then had each one prove they could at least aim the Bludger in their intended direction. Coote missed the Bludger and went to the Hospital Wing with suspected broken ribs, but Jacob and Matthew both managed a decent effort. Georgina Giles broke the bat _and_ the target into smithereens, and received vocal cheers from the Weasley twins.

"She could replace us both!"

George junior (as she was called by the twins) beamed, waved at Vlad and his clipboard then moved to let the Weasley twins have their turn. Once he'd cut down seven to five, Harry tried them out up in the air (everyone had padding on) with some of the other players around as distraction. George jr wasn't as steady as the twins in the air, but then he imagined she hadn't had much chance to practice over summer, and she was certainly as accurate when the Bludger got close.

"Alright, the official list will be up by tomorrow night! Thank you to everyone who came."

Vlad had two pages of notes for Harry to peruse when everyone landed again, loitering outside the changing rooms while everyone changed out of their tryout gear.

"This was actually a great idea. I can hardly keep everyones names straight let alone remember who flew in a straight line."

Vlad smiled as they sat up in the stands with Butterbeer fudge and spiced pumpkin juice - Vlad was such good friends with the house elves they now made it for him and had it in flasks whenever they visited them. Vlad even threw up a light silencing charm so he could talk to him about the lists.

"I'm thinking the original line-up won't actually change. Draco is obviously the best Keeper, Kirke will do as backup. The other two were slaughtered."

Not being the Captain, Vlad merely nodded and jotted it down on a fresh sheaf of parchment.

"The twins and the three girls for Beaters and Chasers?"

"Yeah, Ginny is definitely a reserve Chaser and your little sister... well, they both are really? Yeah, George is a back-up beater. Who out of Jacob and Matthew?"

"Hm. Jacob has a crush on George so natural big brother instincts say not him... but if you think he's better than Matthew I'll get over it."

Harry laughed, watching Vlad scowl into his pumpkin juice flask.

"There's not enough in it for me to mind, but I can put them both down as reserves to pacify them and just go for Matt first. Ok, I need you to pick a reserve Seeker for if I'm injured. Who flew best and fastest?"

Vlad frowned at the prospect of Harry injured, but scanned the list again.

"I actually think its the two girls again. George needs a little flying practice but her eye for detail is incredible, and Ginny has been keeping up with her brothers for years."

"I'll take your word for it."

"You normally practice twice a week, make at least one of those a fortnight include the reserves. It'll give them practice and encourage teamwork and unity."

"Where are all these ideas coming from?"

Vlad shrugged.

"Bertrand has been starting to teach me some basic political grooming. He knows he can't tutor me after Halloween but wants to have me started off so I can teach myself after he's done."

"Because of... what is it again? I get confused about how you were born for a job quite literally."

Harry didn't bring Vlad's future up often - Vlad didn't like to talk about it.

"Chosen One. Once I come of age, or if the current Grand High Vampire is slain, I become the Grand High Vampire. Leader of vampirekind. I'm hoping Elkis, the current one, lives that long because I don't want to take over while Riddle is still a threat."

He visibly resented it, having his future mapped out for him but Harry knew Vlad was 'chosen' for a reason. He was _exactly_ what the vampire world needed. Plus as he was magical, it meant he would be optimally placed to bridge the gap between their two worlds.

Vlad held up the parchment with a complete list for Harry to peruse, nodding when he saw it was done and correct.

"Ok. Now you rewrite it, our handwriting is really rather different."

Harry glared.

* * *

"Mr Dracula. Again."

"Well you keep giving me detention. So I hardly think it's surprising "

Umbridge scowled, pointing him in and Vlad noticed he couldn't smell Wolfsbane. The room was hideous and pink and _loud,_ but it didn't smell of poison right now. His desk was all set up waiting, the usual cursed quill waiting. Vlad suspected he was paying for Harry's resistance, which he would happily do for his mate.

At least he had Phoenix tears in his pocket ready.

She always watched to see him start with the pot of red ink, as though hoping that _this_ time Vlad would bleed for her eyes to see.

 _I must respect my superiors_ carved itself into his hand over and over, skin smarting and stinging but Vlad knew if he used the tears or switched into his phoenix form afterwards, the pain would vanish and his skin wouldn't scar. He had enough scars. Though the ones he had currently were for taking the Killing Curse for Harry and Fleur. There were fewer better reasons to be scarred, he mused.

From the window, Vlad could see Harry leading his first proper Quidditch practice as Captain, reddish-gold blurs zipping through the air in the distance. Thinking of Harry helped dull the pain in his bleeding hand, his mate far more important than some psychotic cat woman and her stupid quill.

Successfully hiding that the quill had worked again, Vlad ensured he took the parchment with him - Umbridge might have ways of discovering the ink was mixed with vampires blood. Not to mention Vlad wasn't going to volunteer his DNA lest it reveal his halfling status.

His Mark began to ache halfway through, the pain a fierce burning by the time Umbridge let him go. Vlad stumbled to the nearest side passage and changed to his other form, breathing a trill of relief when the pain abated. More surprising to Vlad was that when he shifted back, the cuts on his hand were gone too.

"Guess I can save my tears for later."

Harry was freshly showered and smiling about practice when Vlad got back, eager to listen to his mate enthuse about flying.

"I didn't know I liked helping and instructing. Planning is never my strong suit, but these guys were just great at it."

"You've all played together before. Everyone respects your leadership. So long as you don't bore them like Wood did, I'd say you're good to go."

Harry grinned, tossing aside books from his trunk to search for something. The books Black and Lupin gave him landed on the bed next to Vlad, giving the vampire something to flick through while he waited. Harry turned back holding his broomstick maintenance kit, eyes lighting up when they landed on the book Vlad was holding.

"What if we did that for everyone?"

"Huh?"

"Look. Riddle is on the rise and the Ministry doesn't want anyone able to fight. What if we even the scores a bit?"

"With what? A secret duelling club?"

"Exactly! Or something close to it. Teach people to defend themselves and each other."

Vlad rolled the words in his mind, picturing Umbridge swanning about refusing to even teach pre-teens to disarm an opponent.

"Let's do it. We need a venue though, somewhere that can hold a bunch of students without suffering damage or being restrictive."

"Right. Shame nobody knows about Samael or we could use his trunk."

"Not sure the charms in there would hold up to stray spell fire."

Harry hummed, tapping his hand against his leg as he thought.

"Of course, this is assuming anyone wants to be taught by us."

"Not us. You. I'll help, of course but with my transformation coming up I need to be wary of my powers."

His boyfriend frowned, but nodded.

"Ok, so... we look for a venue and sound people out?"

" _Carefully._ Umbridge has spies in the students at school, I'm certain of it."

Harry's face was serious - he was taking what Vlad said on board.

"I will. We'll start with people _we_ trust, and let them sound their own out. Like Ginny with Blaise."

"Or Ingrid and whichever Slytherins she knows aren't turntails."

He watched his boyfriend be lit with a new fire, knowing Harry doubted himself but absolutely thrived in protecting other people.

"I'll go through Luna for the Ravenclaws."

"I can hit Cedric for the Hufflepuff students?"

"Alright. So... that's our plan."

"Yep."

Vlad felt Harry's heat affect him immediately, barely managing to close the bedcurtains and ward them before there were firm muscles pressing against his body in all manner of pleasant ways. Vlad forgot what they were talking about the second Harry's hand was down beneath his pyjama bottoms.

His first sound-outs were the Weasley twins, who proved more useful than expected.

"What you need"

"Or rather, _we_ need"

"Is the Room"

"of Requirement."

Vlad blinked, waiting for actual information.

"Ok. Care to elaborate?"

"We needed somewhere to brew and make the Skiving Snackboxes"

"And so we asked our older brothers."

"The good two"

"Not Percy"

"And Charlie the dragon boy"

"Told us about the magical room"

"That is whatever you need it to be."

"Come with us young Dracula"

"And a magic room you will see."

Shaking his head, Vlad held up his hands.

"Ok, but no more bad poetry."

"That seems fair"

"I concur brother Fred."

Some careful dodging of Aurors later, they were outside a tapestry of a man trying to teach trolls to do ballet.

It didn't seem to be going well.

"Now, think about what you need, and walk past that wall thrice."

"We need to move, it only tends to admit one thought process at a time."

"Except us"

"But we think alot alike."

Vlad raised an eyebrow as the two moved back, leaving Vlad to walk past a patch of wall feeling a little ridiculous.

"We need a place Umbridge can't find us training."

He repeated it three times, one for each pass. When he opened his eyes, there was a door.

"Way to go Vlad. Let's see what you got."

The twins followed him into a huge room, one wall mirrored to allow for watching correct posture and wand technique. Targets lined another wall, the wall of the door empty either side while the fourth was adorned by a bookshelf dull of Defense texts and cushions stacked.

"I think this is gonna work. Now we just have to find out who wants to be here... and a way to make it secret."

-YDHP-

 **I couldn't remember what Harry thought to open the RoR, so... if it's wrong, deal with it.**


	13. Divided Task

**Caz231163 - here's... more? Haha**

 **Guest - I'm sorry you feel that way... Might I suggest simply not reading this fic if it distresses you so?**

 **You - 'I feel like there's more to say during the getting together than when the couple is together' could you clarify that? I'm kinda confused. And wrt Harry's immortality, it's tied in to later plot points but you will get an answer eventually.**

-YDHP-

Harry swallowed thickly, faced with a room full of people all staring expectantly at him. It was rather terrifying.

"Well, we all know why we're here."

Nobody moved. Hardly anyone even blinked.

"Ok. So... You're here because you want to learn Defense. Actual Defense, not theory of wand movement for two weeks at a time" there were a few little titters "and, well, the Ministry doesn't want us to."

"Prove it."

Harry cocked his head, identifying the student who called out as Ravenclaw but he didnt know her name. Vlad stepped up then, having been quietly at Harry's side until then.

"The Ministry has supplied our teacher two years running. Last year it was an _Auror._ Now we have someone who starts every class with 'wands away'. Some reticence is to be understood, but you wouldn't have come if you didn't agree on some level. Back to you Harry."

"Thanks Vlad. As my friend says, it's clear their attitude is shifting. And, well, I can't stand idly by and allow that. Not with Voldemort" calling him Riddle made little sense here "out there."

"But you-know-who can't get into Hogwarts!"

Harry took in a deep breath, looking up with a more sombre expression.

"I wish we could guarantee that, but let's not forget Voldemort has been on these grounds before. Maybe not in the flesh, but through various other methods. Vlad was entered into the Triwizard Tournament on his command, just to stage an elaborate kidnap. Death Eaters have walked these halls. This madman is dangerous, and nobody should fear they can't defend themselves against him or his followers."

"And that's forgetting... do you plan to stay at Hogwarts forever?"

Vlad supplemented, and everyone seemed to start to get the severity of their message. Hermione stepped up then, holding up a sheet of paper pointedly. Harry nodded, turning back.

"Nobody is obligated to sign this, but you won't be permitted to stay if you don't."

"Why not?"

Was parroted back at him several times, Vlad taking the tough question again.

"Because that signature is a promise that your house colours don't matter here, and that you won't tell anyone what we do here."

That comment was aimed in particular at the half a dozen students stood near Vlad, five of whom sported green. Ingrid, Blaise, Theo, Jacob and Jason plus Paul Yates were in attendance, though Paul's friendship with Jacob was likely the more surprising aspect of that. Vlad was publicly on friendly or familial terms with everyone else there

There was some hesitation as Harry, Vlad and Ingrid all signed it first; Harry's handwriting looked impossibly messy above the elegant Dracula looping script. Hermione, Draco and the Weasley twins walked up next, but several students still deliberated.

"If you're worried, ask yourself. Are we _really_ going to leave that lying around? Hermione and Draco are prefects and Cedric is Head Boy."

The quieter presence of Hufflepuff students had almost gone unnoticed, but when several students turned around to see Cedric Diggory with his HB badge stood there, the grumbling greatly lessened. Particularly when he stepped up next with a jovial

"I'll sign it."

Eventually, everyone signed it. Hermione whisked it away as soon as the ink dried, and everyone turned back to Harry expectantly.

"Right. So... in order to gauge everyone's current level, you should pair up and practice disarming and shield charms. One uses Expelliarmus, the other Protego. Students fourth year and below pair up with each other. It's not a measure of your skill, merely concern for uneven magical growth spurts."

"Disarming charm? Seriously?"

"If it's not good enough for you Smith, you can go."

Smith didn't move.

Harry didn't take it personally that Vlad wouldn't pair up with him - Vlad couldn't raise a wand to Harry and already said he didn't want to risk wild magical bursts as he came close to majority. Ingrid lingered back with him on the basis that nobody there presented a challenge to her.

Starting with basics was a good idea - there was a lot of shoddy spellwork around the room. Several students were failing to disarm even their friends who couldn't hold a shield charm. Harry called time after ten minutes of scrambling for wands and stumbling steps, turning to where Vlad and Ingrid were quietly observing.

"Vlad, Ingrid. Would you mind doing a demonstration of correct wand technique?"

"We can do that. Ingrid, care to disarm me?"

His sister smirked, drawing her wand elegantly along with the attentions of most males in the room.

"Do I need an excuse to hex you?"

"I'd let her hex me."

"Heard that."

Fred Weasley grinned cheekily, knowing full well Ingrid could have heard him in a crowded and noisy room. The two Dracula siblings even went to the extent of bowing and taking steps back for standard duelling distance, ensuring everyone could see the way they held their wands. Neither were in the habit of speaking their incantations, but their magical abilities were so similar that they couldn't have done the demonstration silently.

 _"Expelliarmus!"_

 _"Protego!"_

Their timing was flawless - Vlad's shield charm came up just in time to keep his wand in hand, catching Ingrid's with dexterity as the spell rebounded and took her wand away. He held it back out, handle first, then turned to Harry.

"Good eniugh?"

"Yep. Thanks. See the way they didn't flourish too much? You're aiming for the wand, but it only needs to be pointed at the opponent, and the circle you make should be tight. Protego needs more focus on repelling, but absorbing will do too in a pinch. Back in your pairs and try again."

Harry didn't know what was more surreal - ordering a room of fellow students around, or watching them silently and obediently follow his direction. Vlad smiled encouragingly at him, but he went back to discussing the fact two of the students in the room (other than Vlad) were Marked. It meant Vlad needed to come up with a way to explain himself to Riddle for helping train people in defense. That was another reason he hung back slightly.

There was some visible improvement in the room. Watching George duel Ginny was a little frightening - both young girls were frighteningly powerful for their ages. They accidentally knocked each other on their backsides more than once.

"Ok, that'll do for tonight."

"When's the next one?"

Harry looked around the room, humming to himself in thought.

"Here."

Hermione stepped forward with a basket full of galleons, confusing everyone greatly. Harry tilted his head, examining them better and seeing a glow of magic thrumming around each one.

"Um ok? Want to explain Hermione?"

"These coins have a charm on. Normally these numbers tell you which goblin cast the coin, but Harry's one is adjustable - he sets a date and time, and each of yours will change to match."

"What charm did you use?"

Hermione looked over to see a Ravenclaw quizzing her.

"A Proteus charm?"

"But... that's NEWT level isn't it?"

Hermione flushed, shrugging shyly.

"I suppose so. Everyone take one. It will grow warm when the date is changed, but I thought even if you get your pockets searched" that comment was aimed at the Weasley twins, who held their hands up in surrender immediately "carrying a coin isn't suspicious."

To ensure nobody tried to take two - they were _incredibly_ realistic - Hermione physically handed each member their coin until everyone had one.

"Did you do these just now?"

Vlad quizzed as he took his, placing it in the inside pocket of his robes.

"Yep. I had the fake coins ready, but I didn't know how many I would need until now."

"Impressive magic."

She smiled, handing one to each Slytherin student too. There was a mix of easy camaraderie and wary resistance in the room for the snakes, those friends with Vlad, Harry or Ingrid blending them in but those less well-known kept to themselves.

They had no idea _Harry_ was a snake in both blood and in species.

Harry watched everyone back to their dorms on the Marauders Map, leaving only Hermione and Draco alongside Vlad and Harry.

"Ok, spill. This parchment is charmed."

Vlad held up the membership list, and now he knew to look Harry saw tendrils of magic lick at every stripe of ink that had been swept over the page.

"Yes?"

"What's the spell? I can't identify it and it's bothering me."

"Oh, at last! Hermione, you've stumped Vlad. We must mark this momentous occasion!"

Vlad growled in Draco's direction, and the sound had its usual distracting effect on Harry.

"Remember cure-breed, you can't hurt me anymore."

Draco mock-frowned, then stuck his tongue out.

"Spoilsport."

"Leave him alone Draco. We better get going. You two can... clean up."

The two left, and Vlad blinked in surprise.

"Was it something I said?"

"No. I think it was probably to do with Hermione noticing me undressing you with my eyes."

"Lucifer, I'm glad the room can't affect my clothes. That would have been awkward."

Harry tipped his head, focusing on the magic of the room he was beginning to see more clearly now it was near empty. Vlad's chuckle suggested his idea had probably worked.

"Oh look. A convenient bed."

"This is not what the Room is for. Not that I'm complaining."

Vlad was grinning as Harry backed him up toward the bed, reaching out to pull Harry down with him.

"Didn't think you would."

* * *

"There will be no need to talk!"

Vlad cringed at her voice, but he was grinning to himself as Umbridge limped slightly. Fred and George had finished their Fever Fudge, which gave one a huge fever plus the unfortunate side effect of boils somewhere _very_ uncomfortable. In his last detention, Vlad had slipped a box of beautifully wrapped fudge into her desk.

He really owed Harry for that inspiration. And the twins for their inventions.

"Professor Umbridge?"

Everyone turned around, finding a young Hufflepuff at the door looking a little shaky.

"What do you want?"

"I n-need to get Vladimir Dracula?"

That was news to Vlad.

"What on earth for?"

"I don't know miss, I was just sent with this note."

He held out the parchment, Umbridge sweeping across the room to tear it from his small hand.

"What are you still doing here?"

The boy squeaked and ran off, leaving Umbridge glaring at the parchment in hand. Vlad half-expected it to catch fire from the intensity of her glare. She all but threw it at Vlad, a quick scan of the page telling him she was only obeying it for one reason; Dumbledore's signature at the bottom. It was a request for him to go see Dumbledore now.

He left the parchment on the desk so Harry could surreptitiously see it while Vlad leant down to pick up his bag and put his book in it. Umbridge glowered silently as Vlad stood up equally silently, unhappy about leaving his mate but inherently curious about what in Hell the headmaster could want with him mid-class.

Bertrand was in the Headmasters office when he got there, holding a cloth to his face with a frown.

"What's going on? Are you ok?"

"A run in with the Aurors. It is nothing."

Vlad waited for the cloth to come away, spying a burn that he could _smell_ the cause of. If he told Ingrid, she would slaughter the Auror responsible on instinct. And maybe get expelled.

"That's an argentalium burn. That's no casual incident. Hang on a sec" Vlad dug in his pocket, pulling out a jar "use this on it."

Bertrand took it in confusion, opening the lid and taking a sniff.

"Where did you get phoenix tears?"

He lied. Quickly.

"Swiped them from Riddles lab. Rarest ingredient there is."

The headmaster watched their exchange silently, not even reacting when Fawkes swooped down and settled on Vlad's shoulder.

"I'm sure you would have volunteered if you could explain it, right?"

Fawkes trilled, ruffling his feathers as Bertrand dabbed the cloth damp with Vlad's tears on his face, leaving freshly healed skin in its wake.

"Did you call me here to say it's probably not safe to have Bertrand here any longer? Sir."

"Indeed. With your final exam only a short while away, I do not wish to leave you short a tutor but-"

Vlad turned back to his tutor, already knowing what to say.

"Get out of here. I'm ready for my test. Don't stay here at risk on my account."

Bertrand nodded.

"Thank you. You obviously know how to get hold of me should you require advice?"

"I do. But if you're at risk, you need to go. Are the Ministry going to make difficulties when the VHC come to administer my tests?"

"I should be able to shield that particular event for you. You are excused Mr du Fortunesa. Consider yourself always permissible on Hogwarts grounds."

"Thank you Headmaster. Please stop by my quarters when your classes are over Vlad. I shall not be leaving before nightfall."

"Sure."

Bertrand zipped off, leaving Vlad with the headmaster.

"Was that all sir?"

"No. Have a seat would you Vladimir? I fear this will be a difficult conversation."

Fawkes sat himself on the arm of Vlad's chair, practically demanding Vlad stroke his feathers gently as he awkwardly put himself in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Now, I suspect there is more to your... alliance with Voldemort than you let on."

"Such as?"

"Your keen interest in my injury suggests that I am not to survive the year."

Vlad wrinkled his nose in distaste - that was a rather blatant way to put it.

"He wants me to prove I can turn Harry by having him kill you. Honestly, I was rather hoping you would do me a favour and die some other way so Harry's soul stays intact."

He wasn't going to dance around the issue. If Dumbledore wanted to be helpful, he could die quicker. The headmasters eyes deepened in thought, and Fawkes bumped his head against Vlad's shoulder in an attempt to cheer him.

"I concur. Harry's soul must be protected. I was going to request you do it in his place."

-YDHP-

 **Dun dun dunnnn.**

 **Or maybe it's not dramatic. Who knows.**


	14. Protective Souls

**You - thanks for clarifying, that made a fair bit of sense!**

-YDHP-

"I'm sorry. Please clarify this for me - did you just ask me to _kill_ you?"

Vlad was sure he was supposed to say no to such requests. He did his best not to dwell on that.

"Yes. Not immediately, of course. There is much to be done this year."

"Why me?"

Dumbledore took off his glasses, wiping them on his robes before replacing them on his nose.

"Because I am, as you have surmised, already dying. I won't be around to continue taking down Voldemort, and you are the best hope Harry has. I also suspect you above all others would be willing to protect Harry's soul if possible."

Vlad felt like he was being slighted somehow, even if it was true enough he would do anything for his mate.

"If I can shield Harry from that, I will. But I also consider it naive to expect we can get through the war without Harry ever taking a life."

Harry had already been a part of Karkaroff's death. His soul might be whole, but it was no longer the first instance of Dorian Gray's portrait, unsullied.

"Perhaps, but if my last act can be to protect Harry's soul from my mark upon it..."

"At the expense of mine?"

Suddenly, the Headmaster looked very uncomfortable.

"Well..."

"I'm a vampire, what does it matter right? If that's all... I'll do what I can to shield Harry. Good day professor."

Vlad turned and left, hearing Fawkes trill sadly in his wake and felt bad for upsetting his kin. The door was locked, but he opened it with little difficulty after a silent unlocking charm. He hoped Dumbledore doubted himself.

By the time he was leaving the office, it was near time for class to end. He had to go to the Great Hall for dinner, then go see Bertrand. Vlad also needed to tell Ingrid that he was leaving - roles reversed, he believed Ingrid would do the same for him. Nobody else could understand that depth of need and connection to another person or vampire, whether they wanted it or not.

Vlad managed to get Ingrid and a couple of other Slytherins to come sit at the Gryffindor table that evening, some of the new comfort around each other thanks to their Defense group evident as the conversation between Theo and Neville flowed. Blaise and Ginny naturally sat together, and Vlad managed to tell Ingrid she had better come with him after they were done eating. She stabbed her rare steak with a knife, slicing a chunk off and rolling her eyes when Fred Weasley offered to chew her food for her.

"Must you be so annoying when I'm eating? Or ever?"

"Oh Ingrid, you wound me."

"Keep it up and I will."

Harry could tell something was off, but he obviously knew better than to ask Vlad at the table and he was self-assured that Vlad didnt hide things from him. Vlad did his best not to look suspiciously amused as Umbridge struggled to sit comfortably at the teachers table, focusing as intently as possible on his garlic and mushroom baked... thing. The elves had apparently began trying new recipes.

"We better go then, try not to irritate everyone with your cake habits Theodore."

Theo feigned distress and offence but smiled up at Ingrid as she stood, Vlad bidding his friends goodbye as he and Ingrid left for a 'meeting with their tutor'. He and Ingrid made it a couple of hallways away from the nearest Auror before he explained.

"Bertrand needs to leave Hogwarts, with Umbridge and the Aurors it isn't safe for him. It's barely safe for us. Anyway... I thought you would want to know he was leaving the building."

"Hm."

Ingrid didn't really acknowledge what Vlad was doing or offering her information on, but Vlad knew his sister; if she really didn't care, he would definitely known about it. Ingrid delighted in not only letting someone know she didn't care what they were saying, but that she didn't really care for their actual presence or existence either.

"I'm not going to see him. But... thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome. I better go. Be wary, the Aurors are trained against dark creatures."

Ingrid nodded, then zipped off. Vlad continued on to Bertrand's quarters, knocking the door and finding Bertrand staring out of his charmed windows waiting for nightfall.

"I apologise for leaving you so close to your final exams."

The burn on his face was still shiny, but would be invisible by the next day thanks to a mix of phoenix tears and vampiric healing.

"I'm not going to ask you to die for my education. Go raise your daughter, bore your boyfriend, don't eat the house elves. And putting together a reading list I can start at Christmas to start learning about my future job would be a big help."

Bertrand nodded, his rooms looking oddly sterile and empty.

"I've requested from the headmaster that these rooms be left for you to study in, and since you're largely responsible for the security charms I expect you'll not have too much trouble keeping anyone out."

"Thanks. Oh, give me your portkey?"

Bertrand looked confused, but handed over his charmed pocketwatch. Vlad closed his hand around it, focusing on altering the charms.

"Here" Vlad waited for it to not be in his hand, back in Bertrand's pocket "I've added the Chamber to your portkey, so hold it and say 'Chamber' and it'll bring you here. I'll set an alarm charm down there, but in an emergency you can get to us without having to wait for dark or dodge Aurors."

Bertrand nodded.

"Thank you."

"It's non-specific, because you might need to bring Raven or Severus with you and only one of them has your blood. So make sure nobody bad is touching you."

"Unconfident in your own security around Malfoy Manor?"

"No. But I would rather be overprotective than have Raven at risk when Harry is so attached to his baby sister."

It was very odd to ascribe such a term about his mate being connected to his vampire tutor.

"Very well. I must confess I'm eager to spend more time with Raven and Severus."

"Hardly surprising. Did you need anything in particular?"

"Oh. No. Except to ask how you really came by those tears earlier. They were too fresh to come from when you were held prisoner."

Vlad span on the spot for dramatics rather than verbalize an answer, the transformation easier and smoother every time. Bertrand's eyes widened as a phoenix sat on his floor, spreading his wings and springing up to land on the back of the sofa - some of the only furniture left in the room now.

"Lucifer be damned, that's certainly a surprise. May I?"

Bertrand held out a hand, not touching his feathers yet. Vlad nodded his plumed head, holding himself so Bertrand could observe and memorize the intricacies of his phoenix form. He could tell immediately from the _feel_ that the one touching him was not human, the same way he would forever biologically respond to Harry's touch with an innate knowledge it was his mate.

"Is this a dark patch where your Dark Mark resides?"

Vlad nodded as best he could with a birds head, waiting until Bertrand was done circling him to hop down and change back.

"The Phoenix and the Basilisk."

He nodded, stretching his shoulders to relieve the strange ache of going from wings to none.

"Hey, Life and Death is a love story."

"Very true. And you yourself are evidence that the two can intertwine."

"Now so are you. Raven's the same as me."

Bertrand nodded.

"I often forget that. She's simply the most incredible occurrence in my unlife."

Vlad smiled.

"Then you'll be glad to spend more time with her. I had Hermione make you one of these" Vlad held out one of the charmed galleons "that's connected to mine. If you need us at Malfoy Manor, then hold it and imagine what you want it to say. Mine will get hot and the coins outside rim will reflect what you want it to say."

"Ingenious. Thank you."

"I better go. Got a distraction to arrange so you're less likely to run into Aurors when you leave."

Bertrand raised an eyebrow.

"I'm capable of getting out of here quite efficiently."

"Yeah, but now you're not my teacher you can't tell me off."

Rolling his eyes, Bertrand chuckled to himself.

"Very well. I will know nothing of it. I will see you at Christmas if nothing pressing occurs beforehand."

"Yeah. Hey, do me a favour? Get a camera and take some photos of Raven for me? I want them for Harry's Christmas gift."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks. I better go, the twins are waiting."

As he left, Vlad checked nobody was around and cast an Invisibility spell on himself, silenced his shoes and ran toward where the Weasley twins were waiting. He slipped behind the tapestry they had agreed on - yesterday, having already been plotting the prank but now it was serving a dual purpose - and dropped the charm.

"Vladdo!"

"You ready?"

"Yeah. Needs to be timed for nightfall" Vlad checked his watch "so five more minutes."

"That's cool. Perfection can wait."

They waited four minutes, then each left in a different direction of the hallways, triggering a mix of decoy detonators, fireworks and the twins latest invention - portable swamps.

The noise was ear-splitting, colours and smells and explosions turning three whole corridors into absolute chaos that began to attract students. Vlad and the twins hid away under Vlad's invisibility spells, peering from behind a suit of armours alcove to see the damage. The portable swamp literally turned the whole corridor cross-space into a boggy marshland, sloppy muck and damp plants and the _smell_ was so potent Vlad felt mildly sick.

The decoy detonators started off quietly enough as they pottered along, then began making all sorts of shattering, shrieking sounds to fill any spaces not filled by some Filibusters fireworks. Aurors and teachers flocked the area as students charged toward it, several slipping in the swamp goo as they ducked to avoid the fireworks charging through the halls like raging bulls.

Vlad could hear the twins trying to stifle hysterical laughter and silenced their alcove, snickering himself as Umbridge went down flawlessly into the swamp material. She was helped up by a couple of Aurors, only for them to slip too and everyone went down together splattering more muck around.

Eventually staggering to her feet, hair and pink clothes dripping with foul green slop, Umbridge turned a fearsome shade of red with anger.

"I want whoever is responsible found!"

Students began to scatter as she seethed, but Vlad felt his coin burn in his pocket and checked it surreptitiously.

 _"I'm out."_

Bertrand had gotten out unharmed, and there was such chaos in the halls that Umbridge seemed to be completely melting down before their eyes.

Eventually, they had to leave before Aurors started scanning for hidden presences, ducking under flying sparks and their ears were ringing with all the noise, but all three were grinning as the spells hiding them were dropped.

"That, gentlemen"

"Was an excellent job."

"I concur. Now lets get out of here before they find us."

* * *

"Ok, everyone line up and take turns firing at the target. This is about accuracy, not power. Vlad will demonstrate."

Vlad stepped up, took aim at the target and shot a simple _stupefy_ at the target. Above the circular board, a number formed itself out of thin red smoke.

" _95 percent."_

"Don't think you have to live up to it, but ideally your aim should surpass seventy five."

Ingrid rolled her eyes, wand half-aimed toward her brother.

"Swot. Why weren't you in Ravenclaw?"

Vlad shrugged and Harry grinned at the two.

"I have too much disregard for rules I think."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Ok, everyone go. If your accuracy is under seventy percent, come to the left and we'll work on improving it. If it's over seventy, go to the right."

Ingrid got ninety three, scowled at her brother and took her place over to the right. Vlad kept an eye on the results of the targets to make sure nobody lied about their results, while Harry watched the students taking turns. People they knew were relatively powerful - like Ginny, Theo and Fred Weasley scored below seventy percent, which easily demonstrated that power and accuracy were not one and the same. Neville got sixty-nine, but it seemed to be such a blow he may as well have only gotten six.

"Ok. From what I saw, some of you were flourishing your wands too much. Make a tighter circle, then try again."

Within two more turns, everyone had hit at least seventy five. Harry felt inordinately proud, congratulating them as a whole as they moved on.

"Hey, Harry?"

Blaise raised his hand, clearly wanting to ask something.

"Yeah?"

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus?"

Ginny had a "wasn't me" look on her face, but everyone was suddenly fascinated.

"Uh, yes?"

"Wow."

"I couldn't."

"Teach us!"

"Show us!"

Harry held up his hands, trying to regain order.

"I will show you, but teaching you... it's not easy magic. It'll be something we cover in the future, if at all."

Knowing his Patronus took the form of Vlad actually made it much easier; Harry could easily call up happy memories and Vlad's protective nature.

" _Expecto Patronum!"_

The phoenix burst from his wand, wings spread as the ghostly projection soared over their heads before coming to float in front of Harry. Vlad was visibly beaming to himself, obviously thrilled he was what Harry's soul deemed safety, protection. The glow of it was, if Harry said so himself, brighter than it had been before.

"Wow. That's so cool!"

"It's useful, but it's a very tricky charm and it's not easy to use. Dementors make us relive our worst memories, and you need a _really_ happy memory to even try and produce a Patronus. Let's get back to shield charms, we'll revisit maybe learning that one in the future."

Harry cancelled the charm, then directed everyone back to working on shields again. They ended on a high note, pretty much everyone leaving excited for the upcoming Halloween Hogsmeade visit. George Giles lingered under the guise of talking to Ginny, waiting until they were left with only people who knew their relationship before hugging Vlad tightly.

"Can you teach me that Patronus charm?"

She looked up at Harry pleadingly, and there was something eerily Vlad-like in her face that Harry was not good at saying no to.

"I'll try. But the one who taught it to me said it was a tricky charm that fully qualified wizards can't always master."

Vlad squeezed his little sisters shoulder, then looked up at Harry.

"Well, she's the same age _you_ were when he taught you."

Harry didn't stand much chance saying no to one of them, now both siblings were trying to convince him.

"Alright, but you need to eat something first after having spent all evening doing magic."

Vlad had Honeydukes in his pocket, meaning Harry had no excuses left after George ate some chocolate and brandished her wand.

"Ok. Lower your wand a second" George frowned, but complied "now close your eyes, and think of your happiest memory. The happiest you have ever been in your life. Let it fill you up, like you are thinking about nothing else."

George cracked open one eye, glaring at Harry with it.

"I have an attention deficit disorder, that's a tough ask."

That explained _so_ much.

"It's how I was taught, it's all I can offer you."

The Weasley twins, Ingrid and Ginny were all watching the exchange, Vlad focusing more on checking the Map to ensure everyone was back in their dormitories. George closed her eye again, face crinkling tightly in focus the same way Vlad's did when he was trying to meditate.

"Ok."

"Alright. Now say the charm, but keep thinking of that memory. Don't think of anything else, you need to hold on to it."

George raised her wand, and Harry got out of the way just in case. He knew George was powerful, but he didn't expect much to happen. Especially her first time.

 _"Expecto Patronum!"_

Much to Harry's surprise, a massive shape flew from George's wand. Something with wings, moving too fast for him to see at first until it came to rest in front of George's shaking hand. It's wings beat steadily before stopping to hang upside down.

"A bat!"

Her distraction cost her dearly, and the bat faded from existence.

"That was one big bat."

"And utterly _remarkable._ Remus said he would have been astounded if I did it first time."

George beamed, then stumbled. Vlad caught her, handing her more Honeydukes ans grinning up at Harry.

"Magical exhaustion. George, promise me you won't practice this alone? You could burn yourself out if you push too hard."

"I promise big brother. Still, it's pretty cool that it turned into you."

Harry and Vlad shared a look - his own Patronus was an echo of Vlad also.

"Best not mention that to anyone. We should get back, it's past curfew for you two."

Ginny and George both agreed, and after watching Ingrid zip back to Slytherin on the Map before they walked back to Gryffindor. They saw no teachers, only Hermione on a late prefect patrol but she would hardly report them. As many of the students still up had not long left themselves, they weren't too surprised by their return.

Vlad was quiet as they relaxed before bed that night, but Harry wasn't surprised - he was worried about his final Blood Test. It was a very clear step toward his future vampirehood, which Vlad had very mixed feelings on.

It brought up the impending transformation aspect too, and Harry was sure if Samael hadn't said Vlad could even _feed_ on Harry and leave him unharmed, that Vlad would have tried to enforce some distance as that event came closer.

With concerns of his transformation came concerns about Riddle. It was increasingly evident that unless they came up with another idea, Harry was going to have to feign conversation at Vlad's behest in order to continue infiltration of Riddles ranks. All in the name of bringing the madman down.

Their current bone of contention was Dumbledore - the man was dying, and Vlad had apparently agreed to shorten the process in Harry's stead if there was a way to mask that fact with Riddle. Harry wasn't sure his soul - the main reason for the decision being protecting Harry's immortal soul - would stay unharmed if Vlad did that for him. Which defeated the purpose, even if Harry wasn't certain he could commit that murder himself.

"You thinking about Dumbledore again?"

Vlad's voice cut into his reverie, Harry looking up to his boyfriends face.

"How can you tell?"

"You're practically radiating guilt. I know that's your biggest trigger at the minute."

"Yeah. It's a ridiculous, impossible situation."

"Not really. I'll do anything to protect you, up to and including murder. I'm a vampire, and the future Grand High Vampire. I'm never going to go through eternity with no deaths on my soul."

Harry's face creased into a severe frown - he didn't exactly love when Vlad talked so negatively of his apparently unavoidable future. It was something he had to accept though, unless he intended to spend all eternity away from the vampire apparently perfectly made to suit Harry.

-YDHP-

 **up next - Halloween!**

 **Which is cool because Halloween decorations have just started appearing in shops here.**


	15. Hallowed Moons

**Caz231163 - Thank you!**

 **You - I give away nothing about the futures of Ingrid, Bertrand or Severus. I'm not done with them.**

 **Rinky1991 - in my defence I had barely written anything when Chosen Two started! I don't even like looking at Year One and Year Two which is awkward because I'm meant to be editing them out of the block paragraph nightmare.**

-YDHP-

Vlad felt his skin prickle with discomfort as the VHC officiator stared him down. It wasn't yet Halloween, but Umbridge didn't care for tradition or Vlad's revision time and when she was informed there was no way around him having the test administered, she manipulated someone somewhere into having it brought forward.

"Where is your tutor?"

"He had to leave for a personal matter. I gave permission, I felt I was ready for the test without further assistance from him."

"Let us hope so Vladimir Dracula."

As Defence Against The Dark Arts professor, Umbridge unfortunately had the right to be there. McGonogall had insisted on being present too, and she was about the only person on _Vlad's_ side in that room as two Aurors accompanied the Ministry of Magic lackey masquerading as someone who cared for educating children. Vlad kept thoughts of Harry's real Defence classes in his head until he had to focus on his exam. Vlad would love to fail, but he needed his vampire powers in order to protect his mate. The instinct for Harry overruled any personal feelings he had toward his half-vampire genetics. Not that anybody _else_ knew about that, at least nobody in the room.

Bertrand had been certain it wouldn't affect the transformation at sixteen, would only start to assert itself at all in his physical self between seventeen and eighteen. But as many vampires experienced power fluctuations then, and Vlad was unique in many regards as the Chosen One, they ought to be able to get away with things so long as his genetics weren't publicised. Given that he wanted to keep Sally and George safe, association with him would endanger them and he intended to keep that secret too. Particularly as Vlad was dancing the dangerous line of many not being sure which side of the war he may be on.

His chest bore marks of both sides; Voldemort's trademark murder curse that suggested he stood against the evil, and the Dark Mark that claimed Vlad to the dark side. His chest was achey, itchy and just generally getting on his nerves, but Vlad was reaching a point of painkiller potion resistance that meant most of the ones that worked also fogged up his brain. He couldn't afford to lose his telepathy or Occlumency barriers in _this_ room, and learning to live with the pain had been good practice.

"You have ninety minutes. Begin."

Vlad turned over the page, hoping Umbridge appreciated his choice of a black and red quill to write with. He almost wished he'd gone to the trouble of getting some red ink, but that would have been a little too vampy for his final blood test. Scribbling out some dates of well known vampire mass bloodbaths, Vlad stifled a yawn. Blood Tests were so boring.

"Done."

"Are you certain? You'll not have any other chances."

"I'm certain. I had top scores last year. The only person with a higher score than me is my sister, and anyone will tell you she's smarter than me. Especially her. I'm confident I passed, and thats what counts. Can I go? I have Potions essays to catch up on."

The vampire nodded, rolling up his paperwork and Vlad's paper (charmed by McGonogall with a date and time stamp in the ink to ensure nobody messed with it for petty revenge) before zipping off.

"Well, that's that."

"Walk with me Mr Dracula. Good evening Dolores, Dawlish, Knowles."

Escorted out by his Head of House, McGonogall knew as well as Vlad they would be followed and she headed for her office for some privacy with him. He sat down with only a pointing for prompting, waiting for her to sit the other side of her desk.

"Tea Vladimir?"

"Uh, no thanks. I have spiced pumpkin juice in the dorms waiting for me."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm. The house elves are fond of me."

He saw the smile tip up the side of her usually severe mouth.

"How was your final vampiric exam?"

"Not too bad. Could have done without the audience, but I _do_ think I passed."

"Very good. Professor Dumbledore has made me aware of his... request to you."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. It seems he is aware the end of the year could bring vast overhauls to both the war and the school and wishes to be prepared in advance."

Vlad didn't want to confirm or deny he had a request to kill from the intended victim. He shrugged awkwardly, feeling his Dark Mark pulse slightly and trying not to visibly react.

"It probably will. I'm hoping he can hold out until I transform. It'll be easier when I have a dark Vlad living inside me. Well, maybe living is the wrong word."

She frowned, pouring herself some tea into a sturdy looking steel-grey mug and pushing a box containing Ginger Newts toward Vlad.

"Have a biscuit?"

He took one so she would stop shaking the tub slightly, biting off the head before it started blinking. He didn't like when they did that.

"I fear that Albus puts a little too much pressure on you simply because of _what_ you are rather than paying mind to _who_ you are. In any other case, even he would consider asking a student to **kill** abhorrent."

"He's dying. He wants me to spare Harry. He asked because he knew I would."

Vlad had an urge to rub at the glamoured scar on his neck where Harry had claimed him, left a mark to say he was _his_ and it still made Vlad fizzle pleasantly to remember it. He suppressed it - it wasn't common knowledge and only half a dozen people knew it was there, two of whom thought it was from a vampire female. That was possibly Vlad's best sell, since his 'relationship' with Viktor Krum was public knowledge.

"And you intend to go through with it?"

"There are details to be ironed out, like how I can avoid being prosecuted for it after the War is over... but if it comes to it, will I kill to protect Harry's soul? _Absolutely._ I only hope you can accept that professor. The alternative is of course Voldemort finding out he's dying and coming after him."

Vlad doubted Professor McGonogall would ever truly get on board with the idea of Vlad murdering the headmaster, but the war was edging unavoidable unless they somehow found all the horcruxes - that they weren't sure of the number nor the location of - and got Riddle dealt with before the next school year.

 _Highly unlikely._

He had the growing sense of dread that some deeper infilitration was needed in order to learn more about the horcruxes, and some of that information would only be able to come from the tightest ring of Riddle's inner circle. He wasn't looking forward to that coming to pass.

"You're just a boy."

"I'm not a boy. I'm a vampire. Harry has to win this war, and where he goes, I'll go. If I can make any of it easier on him, I will."

She surveyed him as he crunched his biscuit, feeling very much like he was in trouble despite the fact their conversation went far beyond teacher and student. They both knew this situation was something on the precipice of things far worse to come.

"Would you like me to escort you to the tower?"

"Best not. Halloween is soon and that means everyone in the tower is excited and sugar fuelled. Plus those Aurors don't scare me. _I_ scare them."

The smile flickered across her face again, but it was gone before anyone could accuse McGonogall of encouraging him.

"Very well. Off you go... no, wait. One more thing. I can only assume that the mandatory session on career prospects and NEWTs with you will be near pointless?"

"Well unless you're an expert on vampire politics, kinda. It's ok, you can call me out for it. I'll read for fifteen minutes while you have a cup of tea, then we'll pretend it achieved something."

She actually chuckled, then waved him off.

"Goodnight Vladimir."

"Night professor."

Vlad made short work of the trip to Gryffindor tower, finding the common room mostly empty but Harry, Hermione and Draco were sat around the fire, Phantom stretched out on the rug in front of the fading flames.

"Vlad!"

He waved at them, perching on the arm of the chair Harry was in and immediately recieving an armful of black fur as his pesky pet leapt into his hold.

"Hello pest. Hey guys."

Harry smiled up at him, cheering Vlad considerably as he carded a hand through Phantom's thick fur.

"Hermione, if I ever have to go anywhere will you watch my cat? She likes you more than Draco."

"She's not a cat."

"Close enough. Will you?"

Phantom mewled, flicking her tail in irritation.

"Behave, I'm not planning it. I just want to make sure someone feeds you."

She bared her teeth, then flopped back along his forearm to be petted.

"I suppose I can agree to that. She's very smart."

Phantom purred.

"How was your thing?"

"Painful, but final. It's over now until my birthday. Or as close as it gets to being over."

"We still going to the Halloween Hogsmeade weekend?"

Harry quizzed, brushing Vlad's hand rather insistently as he reached up to pet Phantom himself.

"Yep. We promised the third years remember?"

"Yeah, just checking. I'm almost out of butterbeer fudge."

"Hermione's parents would be horrified."

"I brush my teeth and eat my sweets. Deal with it."

Vlad chuckled, dumping Phantom in Harry's lap and standing to ease a sudden cramp in his leg. He had hoped to avoid these pains for a few more months, but also knew they could start up to a year in advance of his transformation. His body trying to remind him he would be dead soon.

"You ok?"

"Mhmm. Stiff from sitting all day. I'm gonna go take a shower before bed."

"Alright. I'm not sure I'm moving any time soon."

Harry indicated the furball in his lap with a chuckle, offering Vlad a smile that made him stomach do a somersault. He left the room before anyone else in the common room noticed he was smiling lovingly or just plain dopily at Harry. He saved the looks for when Harry crawled into his bed, curling up on his chest.

"So how was your exam really?"

"It was fine. McGonogall took me aside for a chat after, talking about the war and Dumbledore and all that. Just killed my buzz about being done with Blood Tests. Still, onward and downward to hell with some fangs."

"My fangs are bigger than yours."

"For now."

Harry smirked, flashing said fangs at Vlad and sending shivers down his spine.

"We'll see."

* * *

"Wow! This place is so cool."

Harry smiled as George and her friends were first exposed to the joys of Hogsmeade - he and Vlad had agreed to chaperone, something gently encouraged for older students to watch younger students, especially with Halloween often ending in dramatics and dangers.

"Just don't get too excited, there's a bunch of visits through the year. Christmas and Valentines and Easter and... I forget the other ones."

"Do we have to go to all of them?"

"No. Most of the older students stop bothering as the novelty wears off, but we always come up here for Honeydukes."

"And Vlad buys new books."

"Shove off Harry. Head around the shops, then we warm up with drinks in the Three Broomsticks or maybe that cafe Harry went on his very first date in."

Vlad smirked, knowing Harry disliked the reminder somewhat - he hadn't wanted to hurt anyone but he soon realised he couldn't fight his feelings for Vlad.

"Hey, that place had some amazing food."

"We'll go there then, the Three Broomsticks is gonna be crammed today."

Harry watched Vlad watch the kids like a hawk, as though he _didn't_ have personal promises from the Dork Lard himself about safety and being careful that year. Honeydukes looked amazed by Harry and his usual bounty of sweet treats for when his Basilisk side was craving sugar rather than meat. The third years stockpiled their own sweet treats too, then there were trips to Zonkos and the pet store so George could get owl treats, the stationary store so Vlad could buy some different coloured inks to colour code his notes (his boyfriend was worse than Hermione, Harry was convinced) and a little meandering through the other stores.

"Is it true that place is haunted?"

"No. Hogwarts is haunted. That place used to house something, but it's moved on since then. I've been in there, nothing but dust and bad smells."

George and her friends looked up at Vlad with eyes like saucers.

"What were you doing in there?"

"Chasing a bad guy. My usual past-time."

"So why does everyone think it's haunted?"

Vlad shrugged at them.

"Set in their ways I guess. I'd take you in there but we might get in trouble. Let's go get some hot drinks, dont want you getting cold."

The cafe Harry had remembered decorated for Valentines day in pink and hearts was now dotted with greens and blacks and oranges, realistic jumping spiders made of icing on cakes and the smell of cinammon and pumpkin spice heavy in the air. Vlad and his pumpkin juice obsession were immediately drawn to the barrel of steaming juice, and apparently determined to copy her brother, George got the same (with cream and chocolate sprinkles, much to both Vlad and the cafe owners consternation). Harry ordered a heavy hot chocolate with hints of cinnamon, the Jones twins got apple cinnamon drinks and Bella ordered some kind of tea. Harry spied several tasty looking cakes, so Vlad took charge and ordered a mixed tray to try and appease everyone as they sat down.

"Was it like this for Valentines?"

"It was geared more towards romance and dates, we had lunch here. They had hot chocolate that was pretty good. What was that stuff the Three Broomsticks did Vlad?"

There was a flash of sad in his eyes as Vlad remembered the day he watched Harry spend Valentines with someone else, and Harry felt bad for bringing it up.

"Almost Amortentia. You liked it."

"It was pretty good. You had... any guesses?"

George grinned.

"Did he have pumpkin juice?"

"You're all terrible. There is nothing wrong with knowing what you like."

They laughed - at Vlad's disgruntled expense, but Harry nudged his leg under the table and he caught Vlad smiling again.

"George, I'm not sure you're supposed to put ketchup on apple pie pieces."

"You're so limited."

Harry noticed Vlad looking a little unsettled as they were leaving, gently getting his attention.

"What's up?"

"Full tonight. I don't like the timing, I want them back before moonrise."

That made sense.

"Ok guys, we should get back. I've gotta plan Quidditch stuff and Vlad probably has some extra homework he asked for to do."

"Aww. We were having such fun!"

"You'll be back plenty of times, don't worry."

There was pouting and sulking, but they and some of their friends managed to chivvy back the excitable younger students long before it started to get dark. Vlad was on edge still, pacing up and down in Bertrand's old quarters. It was pretty cool that they managed to keep them, mostly thanks to Vlad and his excellent security work. Always empty study spot nobody would think to look in.

"Why are you worried?"

"I don't know, I guess Halloween just gives me goosebumps."

Harry supposed he could relate to that - Halloween was never going to be _his_ favourite day either. Keeping busy helped keep his mind off that.

"You wanna go hang out in the Forest? We can both shift forms and stay in the trees. Hey, maybe we can even chat in bird language."

Vlad looked like he was seriously considering it.

"The Forest? On a Halloween full moon?"

"Honestly, I'm dying to stretch my wings. I'm sure you are too."

His boyfriend wavered, but eventually agreed.

"Stay together, and put your Cloak on until we get there."

Harry clapped victoriously, itching to have wings again. And to see Vlad in his phoenix form, which he was often reticent to shift in to lest he be caught in it. There was something they really wanted to keep secret.

-YDHP-

 **I wrote Vlad's half on Tuesday, but Harry's half yesterday and I've had a huge fatigue flare up, so if there's a notable difference in quality or anything like that I apologise.**


	16. Bloodied Hands

**Jon - I had begun to wonder if you forgot us over here at Chosen Two! Glad you're all caught up and enjoying it. The human/vampire mix thing isn't my invention, it's canon so if you wanted to see how it affected Vlad's powers I would direct you to S5 of Young Dracula.**

 **Chapter contains death.**

-YDHP-

Vlad wasn't sure this was a brilliant idea, but Harry's pleading face and the prospect of spending time in his other form were tough to fight against.

They made it down to the Forest without being seen, the Halloween decorations meaning Hagrid's pumpkin patch was empty for the moment. The grounds were eerily silent save for Harry's breathing, but Vlad was both a vampire and he was uniquely attuned to his mate so that was probably not audible to others, especially humans.

Of course, humans weren't their concern tonight.

Once they were in the line of the trees to blanket them in shadows, Vlad dropped his charm and Harry removed his Cloak, folding it down into his pocket and looking over at Vlad in the dark.

"Ready?"

"Stay close. I can sense you but it only works one way."

Harry nodded, vanishing almost from sight to be replaced by the small black bird that was his animagus form. Vlad copied, shifting to his phoenix form and relishing the completeness of his form. There was something deeply enjoyable about being a symbol of life and healing to counter his death and bloodlust vampirism.

His mate cawed, taking off into the canopy of trees. Vlad took off after him, trilling in warning to slow down before he realised Harry's form wasn't as fast as his. He was glad his colouring was darker than Fawkes, helping him blend into the backdrop rather than stand out in red and gold against the darkness of trees.

Not that it made him invisible.

They flew through the trees for well over an hour - beyond moonrise. If there was any wolves in the woods, they would have surely happened upon them by now. Vlad was just being paranoid.

"What do you know" they stopped for a few minutes, taking stock of how it felt to change back after a long flight "a peaceful Halloween."

"Yeah. We carrying on?"

"Another hour, then back."

Harry pouted, but didn't disagree. They flew some more, ending up back at Hogwarts achey and exhausted but grinning - flying was _fun._ Vlad woke feeling residual stiffness in his shoulders but otherwise great, feeling like they had escaped a bad Halloween at last. A hot shower eased much of the stiffness in his muscles, stomach growling as a reminder it hadn't been fed since before a long flight and not a lot of sleep.

There was a buzz of chatter in the Great Hall at breakfast, several teachers looking unhappy and more students than usual missing even accounting for the early hour on a Sunday.

"What did I miss?"

Draco pushed the _Daily Prophet_ along the table, usually composed features now an ashen faced boy. Harry leant in - with bacon already on its way to his mouth - as Vlad flipped it open.

" ** _Mass werewolf attacks across Great Britain!"_**

 _A group of renegade werewolves ran rampant through Halloween night, attacking several mixed Magic and Muggle areas. Sadly, none of the attacked survived and the Ministry is dispensing Memory Charms and help for grieving families alike..."_

Vlad growled, fisting the paper beneath his hands.

"Well, that's probably a lie."

"What is?"

"None survived. It's a cover up. If Greyback was out last night, he gets a kick out of turning people... I have to go."

Harry frowned, plucking the paper from Vlad's hand before it was destroyed beyond readability. He could feel Harry's anger feeding his own, barely containing himself from shaking at the table. Vlad forced himself to look like he ate something, destroying the eggs on his plate until they barely resembled food and making to stand up with his juice. Harry stopped him for a second.

"Be careful."

It was a whisper, but it was a whisper in _public._

"I will."

Vlad headed outside, knowing he was drawing attention but too angry to care. He slipped under the Whomping Willow, the morning still dark enough that he should have blended in. There was fresh scent in the Shrieking Shack, not werewolf but someone had been there. He used the portkey to Riddle's stronghold, taking a minute to ensure his emotions weren't interfering with his mental shields.

The low ranking Death Eaters on the door parted on sight of him, knowing Vlad would knock them aside if he had to. The building was relatively empty, but Vlad could _smell_ them. Freshly turned, that blood-and-dog smell of a human who's DNA was being torn in to by the lycanthropy curse.

"Oh. It's you."

"Bellatrix. Where's your boss? Given that you're dressed, he's not using you."

Sneering, Bellatrix Lestrange advanced on him with what could only be described as the smell of death on her. Wolfsbane lingered, leaving Vlad to wonder if she had worn deterrent to go on the kills last night.

"You act so high and mighty, pretending you-"

"Enough Bella."

She fell silent, stepped back and bowed her head. Riddle swanned into view, _reeking_ of Wolfsbane himself.

"You wanna talk about this in front of her?"

Vlad didn't specify a thing, feeling Riddle nudge at his mental barriers and making no progress.

"Leave us."

"My Lord-"

"Leave!"

The woman didn't dare argue with her boss, scuttling away as she was told. Riddle gestured toward a staircase, frowning but complying when Vlad insisted he go first. Of the two, Vlad knew who he trusted not to stake the other in the back.

"You got a new pet."

"For now. He's skilled, but doesn't work as well under pressure."

Vlad leant against the doorway, watching the fat, balding man in a smoking jacket tremble near a cauldron as Riddle slithered around the room.

"Have you considered, oh I don't know... _not_ threatening someone who needs to make exact measurements?"

"No. I hadn't."

Vlad rolled his eyes, waited for the man to stop stirring and walked over to him.

"Hi. I'm Vladimir Dracula."

"My goodness! A vampire!"

Vlad felt bad for necessitating the kidnap of this man, but he didn't need his species yelled at him in a high pitched voice.

"Yep. You are?"

"Horace Slughorn."

"I know that name... you used to be a professor at Hogwarts. Head of Slytherin House?"

"Y-yes!"

Riddle watched the two converse, flat white forehead creasing slightly.

"My sisters a Slytherin. You would probably like her. Anyway... Riddle, care to explain what last night was about?"

He visibly seethed at Vlad using **that** name, wiping away any thoughts of how Vlad got a better response by talking to Slughorn like a human, not an annoying flobberworm.

"I never let Halloween go unmarked."

"We agreed. No big stuff. You _vowed_ none. And yet you made the front page! Any struggles?"

Riddle scowled, raising his wand. Breaking an Unbreakable Vow killed the breaker, but nudging at the boundaries damaged their magic in warning.

"You want to see my magic is unaffected?"

"No. I'd hate to embarrass you when there isn't enough of a crowd. I want you to explain why you thought a pack of werewolves killing people would appease me. And by me I mean Harry. He knows how much I hate werewolves."

"Prove it."

Vlad stopped for a second.

"Prove what?"

"Prove your dislike of werewolves."

His heart rate picked up a little.

"How?"

Riddle sneered, removing a silver blade from his robes and holding it out to Vlad. Vlad sniffed it first, ensuring it wasn't well-disguised argentalium or coated in wolfsbane. Finally, he took it.

"Do I get to pick my werewolf?"

"If you must."

Vlad gestured for him to lead them away, turning back to the unfortunate victim who had overheard things.

"Nice to meet you Slughorn. Sorry about him."

Following the man who kept twitching back, Vlad began to grow nervous. He knew it was inevitable, but he hadn't come here to _kill._ He didn't seem to be getting a choice though.

"Take your pick."

Riddle opened a door that let out the stench of wolves, several to one side in the process of turning. The others were sleeping like a wolf pack in the middle, snoring and healing and stinking. Vlad counted them in his head, totting up two dozen.

"Greyback. But no big production. Show off his corpse afterward if you must but you aren't turning me into entertainment again."

"I will be observing. I wish to admire the kill."

Vlad felt in his pocket for his pumpkin juice flask, pulling it out and taking a swig to appear far more nonchalant than he felt.

"On one condition. These guys stay put for the next month. No more wolf attacks."

Silently, he vanished the contents of the flask and pocketed it again. He would need it.

"Very well."

"Alright. Not here. I'm not being mauled by his pack."

Riddle hexed Greyback, winning a raw animalistic growl from the woken wolf before he realised where he was, submitting to the 'alpha' with a bow.

"My Lord?"

Vlad waited, knowing Greyback knew he was in trouble again by the sight of the teen vampire. Not being the full moon anymore, Greybacks bite wouldn't necessarily _kill_ him but it would depend on the severity of Vlad's bodily response. Pain and infections were guaranteed, and with his human half Vlad didn't know what could happen.

"Come."

Like a trained dog, Greyback did as he was told. Hulking and huge, he made Vlad hold his breath as they were 'escorted' by Riddle to yet another room. The place was like a rabbit warren.

"Begin."

Vlad wasn't surprised at the lack of preamble, but he felt bad attacking Greyback when the beasts back was turned. A little. Greyback spotted the silver dagger, dropping to the ground in a prowling stance and crawling on his legs in a non-human manner, lips pulled back over his teeth in a snarl.

They circled each other, both at a disadvantage that their species demanded the clash neither were transformed for. Greyback had brawn and bloodlust on Vlad, but Vlad had magic and motivation that went beyond the simple kill.

"I'm growing bored."

"It's not my fault he smells bad."

Hoping to get out alive, Greyback pounced. Vlad let him, knowing he could draw it out for much longer but opting for quick and clean.

Ish.

As Greyback slammed into him, Vlad gripped the blade handle and rammed it upwards. He managed to get between the ribs, silver cutting through even Greyback's thick muscles like butter to slice clean into the heart. Vlad heard the beat stutter and stop, felt rancid-smelling blood run down onto him and managed to use their bodies to block the view, filling the flask messily to his side. That had to be enough. It was their last shot at curing any Greyback turned.

Wriggling the flask back into his pocket, Vlad shoved the body off him with a groan. The blade stuck out, corking much of the mess. Unfortunately, werewolf blood clogged his senses all the same as it dampened his clothes, stained his hands and saturated the air with its scent.

"A little fast."

"I had a shot. I took it. Is there somewhere I can clean up? I can't go back to Hogwarts like this."

"Not yet. I must connect the kill to the killer."

"Whatever. Hurry. This reeks."

Vlad was doing his best to keep it together. He had resisted the bait to kill before. Yet he'd done it anyway. Vampire instincts sang within for the death of a werewolf, darkening the human soul beneath. He was a killer.

Riddle summoned the Death Eaters via Mark - Vlad could feel it burn, deciding he deserved the pain for the blood on his hands. He had to go and face his mate like this. Soon the room was full of robed, masked lunatics, swarming to see Greybacks corpse and whispering about the blood-stained teenager.

One was a Hogwarts student. They would return to the same place with the same knowledge - Vlad was capable of stabbing a man in the heart.

"So. Can I go now?"

"Certainly clean up, but you'll stay a while."

Riddle sent Bellatrix Lestrange to show him to a bathroom, telling Vlad she was being punished as she silently fumed but said nothing to him. Vlad washed his hands to ensure they heard running water, then magically removed the blood from his clothes. They were ruined, the smell would never wash out but he _looked_ unsullied.

He hadn't been asking when he said Vlad should stay a while, leaving him to loiter in his blood-heavy clothes while Riddle parroted about the joys of murder and Halloween. Escaping as soon as Riddle wasn't looking - for dramatic effect as much as anything when the madman turned to find him gone - Vlad portkeyed back to the Shack, deciding his phoenix form needed a test run. Shifting forms, the smell of blood lessened and Vlad focused more intently.

The flames flashed across his vision, masking everything as the world tilted. When the flames cleared, he was in Bertrand's old quarters.

Well.. apparition classes ought to be simple enough. Vlad only hoped Ingrid could too, else she would resent his animagus form _and_ his apparition as things she couldn't manage. Right now she was accepting of his half-human status... best not to rock that coffin.

Bertrand's quarters had a bathroom, and more importantly a _shower,_ which Vlad spent a good twenty minutes just slowly burning under as he tried to cleanse the smell of blood and death. He called Dobby to bring him fresh clothes, skin tingling with the rough scrubbing and a powerful cleaning charm or two.

"I reckon he'll want to be away from everyone else, so this is likely where he'll go when he gets back."

"He _is_ back. I can smell him."

"Anybody else and that would be weird."

Vlad listened as Harry, Ingrid and Draco spoke in succession. They were some of the only people allowed in the room he'd secured. Harry was the only one to brave letting himself in the bathroom, finding Vlad staring at his reflection in clothes from Malfoy Manor.

"Vlad! Are you- why can I smell blood?"

"Not mine."

He all but leapt on Harry, needing the comfort of those strong arms around him. Breathing in Harry's scent washed away anything else, burying his face in Harry's cool neck and holding him tight. Harry let him, holding him in return and waiting until Vlad relaxed a little.

"Feel better?"

"Mhmm. Thanks."

Harry slowly pulled back, keeping his hands on Vlad's bare forearms.

"So. Can you tell us what happened? Why does it smell like blood in here?"

"Where's Hermione?"

Draco answered.

"Prefect patrols. We trade with other houses, she's off with a Ravenclaw prefect. I'm trading this evening."

Ingrid rolled her eyes, growing impatient.

"Why do you have clothes that smell like werewolf blood?"

"They _were_ mine. I gotta burn them now. Firstly..."

Vlad cringed as he dug through the pockets, producing the juice flask.

"He's dead now, but thats Greyback's blood."

Harry frowned as he took it, taking Vlad's hand and leading him out to the seating area. There were snacks and drinks on the table in the middle, mostly Halloween themed which told him there had been a kitchen raid. It meant there was spiced pumpkin juice, which was even still magically warmed. Vlad was sure many problems in his unlife could be solved by hot spiced pumpkin juice and being around Harry.

"I'll try and brew the cure in time... I need the Wolfsbane though and that doesn't keep so nobody stores it."

Vlad nodded.

"I can get hold of some. I'll regret touching it but I can. Anyway... I killed Greyback. Riddle insisted I prove my anger was because of werewolves rather than death. Had a silver blade ready and everything... he's been waiting to get a kill out of me."

Harry reached for his hand, soothing Vlad as he worried he would scare his mate off.

"I fed Karkaroff to two vampires and a Basilisk. You killed a werewolf who hunts children for fun."

"And who tried to kill me."

"Didn't think you had it in you little brother."

Vlad couldn't help but be a bit relieved that the others weren't judging him. He knew the war would bring bloodshed, but he had at least hoped to contain it to the time after his heart stopped. Riddle had taken that from him.

"I made him agree to keep the wolves in until the next moon. With any luck they'll stay there after too. Most werewolves have nowhere to go. And pushing the Vow definitely got to him, I only saw him use one minor hex the whole time I was there. Normally he's trigger happy with powerful magic. Ought to stop him pushing boundaries again for a while."

Taking a hearty swig of juice, Vlad crammed a cauldron cake with red filling in his mouth. He was hungry and nauseous, so he went for a happy medium of putting something in his system without trying to eat anything heavier.

"So where do we go from here?"

"Going by the time... lunch. Although honestly, I'm not feeling it. Do we know how many died according to the Daily Liar?"

"They put it about fifty."

"So at least a hundred, more in Muggles since they can't survive bitten wolf bites. Minus the handful I saw changing at the evil headquarters. That explains the missing students, probably lost family. I'll have to get a list of names, see if anyone has survivors in the wolf pack. Then they can be reunited if we cure them."

If he tried to think of better things, Vlad might just be able to ignore the crippling guilt. For a while. He really needed to consider all the dead and turned Greyback left in his wake... the animal needed putting down. He would have to keep telling himself that.

And burn his clothes.

-YDHP-

 **All Vlad chapter... I might do an all Harry one next for balance. We'll see.**

 **Uploaded a few hours early to make sure I don't forget tomorrow/later today as I'm busy.**


	17. Poisoned Prejudices

**Terribly sorry for the hiatus, something happened that made me reconsider writing ever again and I came dangerously close to quitting altogether...**

 **But I'm back! Hopefully to weekly updates but that's shaky at the minute. I'll do my best.**

 **Some misbehaving at the start of the chapter if you wanna skip those shenanigans.**

-YDHP-

Harry only knew a few sure-fire ways to distract Vlad from being trapped in his own head, and the whole killing Greyback thing had knocked Vlad for six. Harry wondered what it said about him that he minded killing Karkaroff much less than Vlad seemed to mind killing a werewolf who took pleasure in killing children and turning all the people he could.

It had taken virtually no time at all to push through Vlad's whole 'I don't deserve comfort' that evening, Harry's persistence leading to Vlad accepting his embrace. He wouldn't face him, instead playing 'little spoon', but Harry didn't need him facing him for it to work.

It was an underhanded trick, or at least playing innocent was, but Harry knew how Vlad couldn't help his reaction to Harry speaking Parseltongue. And Harry still feigned no control over it even though control over all his 'quirks' had become second nature since the first time he changed.

Vlad reacted instantly to Harry hissing quietly, whimpering quietly under his breath. Harry wondered if he should feel guilty utilising the ease with which Vlad responded to him, but he wasn't doing it for himself - he was doing it to cheer his boyfriend up.

"H-Harry, you're doing it again."

He didn't miss Vlad's stammer, knew he was affecting the teen vampire.

"Doing what?"

Vlad couldn't answer; he didn't speak snake but he whimpered again, pale fingers visibly tightening in the bedcover in front of him. Vlad could sense Harry's mood shifts, including arousal. Harry could _taste_ Vlad's arousal on the air, raw and sweet and alluring. It had been a surprise to realise at first that that's what it was, wondering why the scent would find him during class or outside when they were sat by the lake. It was only when he realised it was strongest at moments like this that Harry understood what it was.

He bit gently at the side of Vlad's neck, ensuring his sharp teeth didn't break skin but it was enough to make Vlad jerk and gasp. Vlad pressed back against him, the cool skin of his chest feeling Vlad's pyjama shirt drag against it. Harry vanished it out of the way, hearing Vlad let out a shuddering breath as fingers slid under the waistband of his bottoms.

"Ha-r-ry."

Vlad whined his name as Harry curled his hand around his erection, stroking firmly as he continued hissing to keep his boyfriend trembling in the best way possible. Vlad pressed back against him again, trapping Harry's own erection between his stomach and his boyfriends back. It was rather suggestive and Harry tried not to think too hard about it, but Vlad was writhing and moaning and bucking and it was impossible _not_ to imagine him doing that with Harry inside him.

Harry squeezed at his cock, revelling in the way Vlad was so endlessly responsive to him, feeding Harry's own arousal and the primal rutting was still enough to have them both teetering on the edge of climax. The raw scent became stronger as Vlad's body tightened against his, pulled taut by the promise of orgasm and Harry knew the soft cry that escaped his lover meant he was coming without the liquid coating his fingers.

It took only a few more animalistic thrusts against Vlad's back for Harry to join him in satisfaction, the mess of his pyjama bottoms not mattering in the slightest as the climax took him. Vlad turned onto his back, flushed cheeks and dilated pupils speaking of the rush of happy hormones coursing through his body. His silent charms cleaned Harry's hand and both their underwear with a cool whisper of magic across skin. It tingled oddly but beat getting changed.

"Was the hissing on purpose?"

"A little."

Vlad rolled his eyes fondly, muscles lax and tension gone.

"Any particular reason?"

"You were tense. Sad. Now you're smiling."

"I should be feeling bad though. I killed someone."

Harry ran his fingers over Vlad's jaw, gently turning him to meet his eyes.

"How many people has Greyback killed? How many kids has he maimed and mauled? How many families has he ruined?"

Vlad was listening, he knew, but it was still a sore spot for the future leader of a race known for bloodlust while he wished he were human.

"I know. But-"

"No buts. You probably saved a few hundred people from the trauma he would have inflicted. You even remembered to collect his blood so we can try and help some of those he changed. You did the best thing of a bad situation... if you hadn't killed him, he could have bitten you, _killed_ you. You're immortal but you aren't infallible. You kept your cover and stopped what was effectively a serial killer with fur and teeth."

Vlad rolled on to his stomach, resting his head sideways on his crossed arms to look over at Harry.

"Does it really not bother you I _killed_ someone?"

Harry shook his head.

"I don't like that you're upset, but I've already killed Karkaroff. With help. We'll probably _both_ have to take more lives to come out of this war. Which means we are going to have to find a way to live with it. Or _un_ live with it as you vampires say."

"I guess so. I just never wanted to be a killer. Always swore I would never bite breathers, never hurt anyone."

Harry felt bad; if he weren't bonded the way he was to Harry, Vlad wouldn't have been dragged into the fight.

"I would say you don't have to side with me for the war, but-"

"It's like saying I don't have to breathe, or telling my heart to stop months early. I can't _not_ follow you."

The scars and brand that covered his chest and back were proof of how truly Vlad was dedicated to what they were doing, to helping Harry bring down Riddle. Feeling sleepiness begin to encroach, Vlad responded to Harry's mood and rolled over on to his back, serving as Harry's favourite pillow. His heart rate occasionally stuttered up and down but Vlad assured him that was normal, part of the transformation preparing within his genes.

Given all the strange things that has had happened to Harry as Basilisk venom rewrote _his_ body, he supposed the year leading up to becoming a member of the living dead would be peculiar on the insides.

Vlad seemed to be in a better mood when they woke up, eating breakfast and discussing ways to wind up Umbridge with the twins. He discussed Defence Association tactics with Harry in their free period outside, neither affected in the slightest by the brisk chill of November.

"You think they can be trusted to shoot each other with hexes and jinxes?"

"They know these spells already. You're teaching them to fight and deal with them. How to aim and how to channel their magic. How to work together. I think until Christmas keep them learning this stuff, then after Christmas start matching up actual duels. Mix the pairs, uneven numbers. Death Eaters aren't going to be going all fair one on ones or waiting for a friendly face to play doubles."

Harry nodded as he bit into a chocolate frog, smelling frost on the air and wondering if they would be expecting snow soon. He liked snow.

"All good plans. You'll still come to the thing right?"

"Obviously."

Vlad smiled over at him, sending warm flutters through Harry's chest. George came running out of nowhere, trampling through the damp grass in a flurry of red, gold and curly hair. Her friends were visible several feet behind her, unable to keep up with the human hurricane that was Georgina Giles.

"George, are you alright?"

"Me? Fine! It's that evil pink teacher that's causing trouble, have you seen?"

"Seen what?"

"In the Entrance Hall?"

Vlad shook his head, looking over to Harry who was as clueless as his boyfriend. They stood up, vanishing away any mess they left on the ground and any they took away on their clothes. They followed George and her now-breathless companions back to the castle, looking up at the three picture frame-esque scrolls hanging on the wall in there. Vlad's long-sighted vision was better than Harry's - their predatory behaviours were evolved differently.

"Umbridge is High Inquisitor... that's the top middle. The left says she will be allowed to randomly observe other teachers classes and the right..." he squinted, then scowled "says any extra curricular groups are to be disbanded."

Harry and Vlad shared another look - no way _that_ was a coincidence.

"Thanks George."

"No problem. Oh, an owl dropped this by me at breakfast by mistake. I didn't notice because it was under my mail at first."

Vlad took the parchment with his name on, thanking George politely. Harry knew it was almost certainly a letter from their mother, but they couldn't be obvious about it. He could see the smile shadowing over his boyfriends mouth though, knew Vlad was enjoying the correspondences he could exchange with Sally Giles.

"You go on to your next class or whatever trouble you're causing. We should too."

George beamed, turning to leave with her friends. Harry and Vlad headed up toward their next classes, opting to walk up through the outer clock tower stairs - in the cold weather, they were much emptier and allowed them not to fight the milling students traversing the stairways.

"Are we doing the thing anyway?"

Vlad spoke softly, almost silent with the sounds of footsteps but Harry heard them.

"Might see a dent in numbers but yep."

Nodding in response, Vlad leant against an empty stretch of wall and flipped open his letter, smiling to himself.

"Anything in particular got you grinning?"

"No, just... standard stuff. Its just amazing to be getting these."

They were pushing it to be on time to Transfiguration, making it just before McGonogall would threaten to turn them into pocket watches. Sliding into their seats with hurriedly muttered apologies, the severe professor barely launching in to the lesson plan before a chilling cough sounded from the door.

" _Hem hem._ "

"Professor Umbridge."

"Good day Minerva. I trust you received my note informing you I would be inspecting you?"

"Clearly. Or else I would have asked why you were in my classroom."

Ruffled, Umbridge straightened up.

Then you know I am here to supervise your class."

Everyone had turned around, and the evil cows eyes ran straight to rest upon Vlad.

"Very well. Have a seat Dolores."

Everyone followed the evil cloud of pink down the classroom with their eyes, watching her perch herself at the front of the classroom. McGonogall barely acknowledged her, swishing back around to continue teaching.

"As I was saying, today we move on to Vanishments of..."

" _Hem hem._ "

Umbridge attempted to interrupt and the tension in the room was painfully clear - _nobody_ interrupted Professor McGonogall.

"I wonder, _professor,_ how you expect to gain a view of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I don't normally allow anyone to talk out of turn in my class."

Harry listened to Vlad stifle laughter in his hands, burying his head behind his textbook and shaking with suppressed mirth. If he wasn't mistaken, their teachers mouth twitched a smile in that direction. Umbridge sat looking scandalised, but she fell silent and made a note on her clipboard. Her quill was audibly sharpened to scrape against the parchment, which Harry suspected was to throw off the teacher being observed.

It was unlikely to bother the deputy headmistress though, more irritating to Vlad and Harry with their above average hearing.

"Today we move on to..."

Their lesson went on without incident other than the constant grating, except Harry and Vlad were asked to stay behind. Everyone, including them, suspected it was about them almost being late. The evil pink creature was the last to leave, and Vlad silenced the door with a lazy hand gesture the second it closed behind Umbridge. McGonogall trusted his magic, waited for Vlad to nod and say they had privacy.

"I actually only need to speak to Mr Potter, but I felt it less inconspicuous to ask both near-latecomers to stay behind."

"Me?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore asked me to pass this along to you. I don't know what it says-"

"It's been charmed only to open for the recipient... sorry professor."

Vlad ducked his head after interrupting, looking suitably cowed.

"Good eye. Correct."

She held out the rolled up parchment, which had no visible opening until it was touching only Harry's hand. He unfurled it, scanning the looping lettering and letting Vlad peer over to look.

 _There is much to be done and little time to do it._

 _Please come to my office at 8pm tonight. Alone._

 _Albus Dumbledore._

Vlad visibly sulked at the 'alone' part, because they both knew it was aimed specifically at him.

"Whatever he tells me you'll probably find out anyway. Or already know."

That brought a smile to his boyfriends face as Harry tucked the note inside his robes, forgetting they weren't alone as he reached out and squeezed Vlad's hand. McGonogall pointedly looked away, ignoring the flush staining both boys cheeks.

"Yes, well. On to your next classes. Away with you!"

As they got to the door, Vlad turned back.

"Its kind of a secret."

"It is not my business, so I'll not discuss it."

They both nodded, Vlad dropping his silencing charm as they left and almost tripped over a blatantly-attempting-to-eavesdrop Umbridge. She looked exceptionally unhappy to be caught, straightening her fluffy abomination of a cardigan and storming off. Vlad unsuccessfully suppressed his sniggering, but composed himself quickly as they slid into a scarcely-used hallway.

"What do I say as explanation for having to disappear tonight?"

"Go for a quick trip to the Library."

"Mhmm. I have Quidditch in the morning, this had better not run late."

"You'll be fine. Once you get up on the broom you're running on adrenaline."

The hallway brought them out by one of the side staircases that took them up one floor, where they would part ways - Harry had Healing and Vlad had Arithmancy.

"What do you think he wants?"

"Presumably to pass on information. I can't think of anything else _pressing_ that needs to go to you and you alone."

"True. See you at dinner?"

"Yep."

They separated for class, Harry heading down to the Hospital Wing and finding Draco waiting outside there.

"You see the new decorations?"

"High Inquisitor?"

"Yes. We still doing it?"

"Yeah."

They fell silent as Madam Pomfrey bustled out, calling them in in confusion - everyone else was already in class but she didn't think they would have _both_ been missing from class.

"Today will be a mix of study and practical - recognising and treating poisoning. Some of what you learn in Potions class will apply, but remember that a Healer wants to save a life not analyse the composition of the ingested toxin. Remember that, should any of you choose to make a career of Healing, you may need to account for varying species. Can anyone offer me an example of that?"

Harry's hand went up before he even realised. The nurse nodded, pointing to him.

"Vampires are allergic to the standard blood-based potions we use on humans. And werewolves are allergic to _any_ medication containing silver or Wolfsbane with the exception of the Wolfsbane potion."

"Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor! Now, steering back toward poisons and antidotes, turn your textbooks to page seventy six."

Harry hadn't mentioned his own reaction to spider venom after the Yule Ball. That would be very hard to explain. As difficult as that time he felt like his brain might melt from being too close to a chicken coop. He could still _eat_ chicken, but it wasn't as good as mammalian meat and didn't sate him fully.

Realising he was losing track of class, Harry turned his focus back to the text book. They read in relative silence for ten or so minutes while Madam Pomfrey tended to the two students currently in the Hospital Wing - the class was held in a purpose-expanded side room, the groups small but studious. When she came back, they had a loose question-and-answers on the book before they were given three list of symptoms on the board, six potential antidotes and assigned the task of working out what the poisons were, and selecting an antidote.

"I'll be amazed if anyone gets all of this correct, it's not a proper test. No panicking, I'm not giving out Calming Draughts in class just because they are conveniently close by."

A few chuckles broke out, then everyone was setting in to their work. Harry found it remarkably easy in all honesty - he had been taught poisons by Bertrand and Severus for years outside of class. He recognised one list as the symptoms of snake venom - Runespoor venom to be specific - immediately, and the obvious antidote for that was the most potent antivenin.

The second was Ricin poisoning, which was incurable in Muggle medicine but if treated quickly enough, a potent antidote including ground bezoar and unicorn hair known as the "Purifier of Poisons" did the trick. Of course, that particular antidote wouldn't agree with a vampire.

The third took him a few minutes, finally clocking it was caused by improperly brewing any appearance-altering potion containing animal livers. Either the Antidote to Common or Uncommon Poisons would cure that. He put down his quill and his book, getting surprised and confused looks from his classmates. When Madam Pomfrey came bustling back into the room, she too looked surprised.

"Done Harry?"

She was on first name terms with all the students in Healing class - force of habit treating children it seemed. Harry handed his parchment over, watching as her eyebrows rose in opposition to eyes going down the page.

"Perfect. I'm _very_ impressed. Take another five points."

Harry smiled, taking his work back.

"How did you know all of that?"

"Extra reading. I don't have much else to fill the time over summer so..."

Draco was next to be done, and he'd paired up antidotes to symptoms based on interactions between their ingredients and the symptoms even if he didn't get the cause of ricin poisoning. Harry mused that he wouldn't know ricin as easily - it wasn't prevalent amongst magic folk. A very Muggle poison.

"Well done Draco. You've paired symptomology and ingredient interaction perfectly. This is what we'll cover next lesson - if you don't have the name, symptoms might be the only information you have. Make notes on these three antidotes here, and homework is to study the chapter on identifying poisonous plants in 1001 Herbs and Fungi."

As they left, Harry felt bouyed by the lesson. It was nice to occasionally stand out for something he actually did himself, not something done accidentally as an infant.

"Harry here was teachers pet in Healing."

Vlad looked up at Draco from his steak - it was done, but Vlad had been a well done type before. He wondered if he was reading too much in to it.

"I was not!"

"If you say so."

The _Evening Prophet_ arrived - not a frequent delivery to Hogwarts but when they saw Umbridge splashed across the front page it was clear why. The announcement of her 'promotion' was front page news - the werewolf incident was already sliding backwards to the pages not everyone read.

"Anyone mind if this accidentally gets tossed on the fire?"

Draco shook his head - it was his paper. They read it first, ensuring they checked for any little slips of information nuggeted away in the article beneath a huge moving imagine of the evil witch beaming creepily next to the Minister.

True to his word, Vlad threw the paper in the fire when they got to Gryffindor tower. Harry kept an eye on the time as they studied in the dorm, making his library excuse at ten to eight.

"I left a book in there earlier I need."

Vlad helped make it realistic.

"Want me to come? I'm itching to fight with more aurors."

Harry chuckled, shaking his head.

"I appreciate the offer but no. I shouldn't be long unless Madam Pince decides to kill me for breathing on her books too loud."

As he left - Cloak in pocket and wits about him - Harry began to wonder more intently about what Dumbledore wanted.

"Oi! What are you doing wandering about?"

Curling his fingers around his wand, Harry faced the auror.

"It's not curfew yet, I can wander all I like but if you must know, I'm off to see the Headmaster."

"I don't believe you."

"That's not my problem is it?"

Loathe as he was to turn his back to the man, Harry made it around a corner and behind a false wall before the Auror could give chase.

"Potter!"

Rolling his eyes, Harry got on with his trip to the Head Office. The gargoyle let him up without a password, which meant when the door opened before he knocked, Harry wasn't surprised. He was expected after all.

"Ah Harry my boy, come in."

He stepped into the cavernous office, spying Fawkes who trilled in welcoming. He didn't get Vlad's tactile welcome though - they weren't similar species the way Vlad and Fawkes were.

"Good evening professor. Your note was a little... serious."

"Time is becoming a very limited resource Harry. Have a seat would you?"

He was reminded of Vlad as a chair seemed to materialise out of thin air, clearly intended for Harry to sit on.

"Now, as I have less time than I had once hoped to have for this, I must burden you with this knowledge Harry. I'm going to teach you about Tom Riddle."

-YD-

 **Yeah. No promises about weekly updates just yet but I'm gonna try. This probably didn't make up for the hiatus either, so... Sorryyyy.**


	18. Deathly Pensive

**I must once again thank you for your patience with me! I'll never leave this story unfinished and I'm doing my best against my head to focus long enough to update this weekly again. I appreciate each of you that sticks with me. I spent days staring at this blank document and ending up writing HTTYD smut because I can do that blindfolded and this story takes so much more effort that I could not squeeze from my shattered brain.**

 **Nonetheless**

 **On we go.**

 **PS - a lot of borrowing from our queen JK in this chapter, none of it my intellectual property.**

-YDHP-

"What exactly are you intending to teach me sir?"

"As much as I can. I feel that knowledge is our best weapon, and so I should arm you with whatever weapons I can."

Harry noticed the new cabinet, glowing and full of things that made his scales tingle. Harry licked his fangs nervously.

"Are those memories sir?"

"Very astute. They are indeed."

"Yours?"

"Some. Several were... acquired from others."

The way Dumbledore stressed the word _acquired_ made Harry wonder if the owners of the memories hadn't wanted to give up their innermost thoughts.

"Ok. Are you going to show me them?"

The headmaster nodded, holding the arm with the cursed hand oddly. Harry wondered if it hurt. He waved the unmarked hand in a broad gesture and Harry caught a glow lighting up the room. It was like looking through sunlit water, ribbons of motion waving their way lazily through the light of some hidden source within the runic, aged stone bowl.

"This is a pensieve Harry. It allows us to watch memories, and to store them. A second look often gives us more than we knew we could see, does it not?"

Vlad sprung to mind; Harry had looked at him dozens of times before he _saw_ him.

"I guess so. How does it work?"

"Select a memory."

Harry stepped up to the glowing cabinet, peeling it open as though he expected the spindly, fragile-looking structure to shatter on impact. One seemed to jump out, almost like he could see a small snake slither within the small glass bottle.

 _"Bob Ogden."_

"Who's Bob Ogden?"

"Ah. Head of Magical Law Enforcement Patrol in this particular memory. A good choice to start. This memory takes place before Voldemort was born."

Harry frowned in thought; what would this teach him?

"Alright. Now what?"

The headmaster took the bottle delicately, tipping it into the pensieve. The rippling ocean inside roiled for a second before calming, a peculiar face ghosting across the surface.

"Now we go in."

Harry copied the headmaster, feeling singularly daft for bending face first into the pensieve. It felt cold and yet insubstantial upon his skin, but then he was being pitched headfirst into a memory. It felt off, his magic acutely aware he didn't belong within this place. The peculiar face belonged to this Bob Ogden fellow according to Dumbledore's mutter. He was clearly not accustomed to dressing in muggle attire; he looked ridiculous.

"How can we see him if this is his memory? Shouldn't it be from his point of view?"

"Ah. The magic of a pensieve."

Not helpful. Harry focused back on Ogden.

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of Little Hangleton" Harry's chest seized up "and this is the Gaunt... home."

Gaunt. He knew that name. Home was a stretch for the dilapidated shack Ogden was walking toward. Harry couldn't help looking for the graveyard he and Vlad would brush with death in, but the edges of the memory-world were fuzzy, incomplete.

There was a dead snake nailed to the front door. Harry felt sick to look at it. Ogden didn't look too happy himself as he raised his wand and rapped at the door neatly; he didn't seem to want to _touch_ the door with his hands. The door flew open in a blur of human, though Harry felt that an anatomical description more than a personal one.

'Morfin Gaunt' as he was named, was holding a knife aloft and spewing non-words. His eyes were rolling faster than any human, acutely reptilian to Harry's knowing mind. The non-words became hisses that he struggled to translate, so fast and primal the tone.

 _"Morfin! Up! You'll hissssss townsfolk again!"_

 _"Father!"_ Harry noted a passing resemblance in their asymmetric faces _"he comes too close!"_

Bob Ogden managed to get upright again while Morfin was distracted by his father, brushing himself down and holding out his wand and a roll of parchment in shaking hands.

"I am Robert Ogden of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and I am here to hand you these summons Morfin Gaunt. You will appear at a hearing on your use of magic upon a Muggle."

Morfin pulled a wand from somewhere in his filthy clothes, cursing a spell somewhere between Parseltongue and English that Harry didn't make out. Yellow goo, thick and sticky burst from Ogdens face, which he attempted to staunch the flow of while Morfin's father tried to restrain his son.

The commotion drew a third out from the shack, a thin and unpleasant looking girl with stringy hair and a deep, hollow sadness in her eyes.

"Merope! Get back inside!"

"But father-"

He struck her, the blow sending her to the ground but there was no reaction. Just acceptance. This wasn't uncommon.

"Get back inside! Clean something would you?"

Ogden spat out some of the yellow mess, then turned to the father.

"Marvolo Gaunt" Harry startled at the mention of Riddles middle name "you are expected to produce your son on the charges of using magic-"

"Do you know who I am?"

Marvolo hissed, English but the parselmouth inflections were clear.

"Marvolo Gaunt, father of Morfin and Merope Gaunt-"

"I'm the direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin! Look!"

Around his neck proved to be an all-too-familiar locket that gave Harry chills. Upon his middle finger resided a ring, one that meant he performed an obscene gesture to display it to the man. The scratches on the blackened ring gem struck Harry as familiar too, tugged at his mind and magic.

"That does not excuse your sons actions Mr Gaunt!"

Bob Ogden was terrified, it was clear and Harry was impressed he'd lasted this long. Before anymore could be said, a carriage trundled up the path looking out of place with its grandeur against such squalor.

Morfin snarled and sneered as the door of the carriage opened, Harry's heart stopping in his chest for a brief second as recognition tore into him like a keen blade.

"Tom Riddle senior."

He barely heard Dumbledore name him, static buzzing in his ears but he could hear the laughter, the taunting from Riddle senior and his lady friend as they taunted the poor from their comfortable carriage and fine clothes. Morfin turned to his father, gesturing with his knife toward the sister who had not yet picked herself up.

 _"Merope lusts for the Muggle. Would dilute our bloodline with hissss kind."_

 _"She dare not! This cannot hisssss Merope?"_

Merope didn't answer, but the lacking answer seemed to serve as confirmation to the quite mad Marvolo. He reached for his daughter, closing his hands around her throat. Riddle and his companion left without so much as a sound of surprise, telling of the attitude they had. Merope barely managed to put up any struggle, face turning quite purple as she began to go limp in her fathers chokehold.

Ogden finally attempted something of a defense, shooting some sort of hex at Marvolo that made him jerk away as though burnt by Merope's skin. She crumpled to the floor choking and spluttering, pale neck already beginning to bruise in thick dark splotches. Marvolo and Morfin both turned on Ogden as one, and the man finally had the good sense to _run._

At this, Dumbledore pulled them out somehow. Harry stumbled backward as the world righted itself, falling into cool arms that surrounded his middle. Magic instinctively recognising vampire, he didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Vlad?"

"You were scared. Really scared. I couldn't stay away."

Dumbledore looked as surprised as Harry to see him, though now he'd explained Harry knew he ought to have expected his boyfriend.

"Vladimir. How did you get in?"

"Your wards may work on ordinary wizards. I'm not one. What were you _doing_ to him?"

Harry placed a hand on Vlad's arm, which quieted the growls rumbling in his chest.

"We were looking at a memory. It wasn't a pleasant one... but I don't understand. Who were those people? The Gaunts?"

It was Vlad who answered.

"Riddle's Slytherin line. Morfin and Marvolo were imprisoned, and then Merope seduced the Muggle... with magic I assume, since I hear she wasn't a looker."

Harry could only stare at him in shock.

"How?"

"It's amazing what you pick up when around an angry madman. His Legilimency is fantastic, but his Occlumency is lazy. You know Riddle killed for that memory once he heard you visited Ogden right?"

The headmaster nodded gravely.

"Most unfortunate."

Vlad hissed angrily. Fawkes ruffled his feathers.

 _"Unfortunate?_ All you had to do was be more careful about who knew you were there."

Harry squeezed at his boyfriends arm, distracting the angry vampire residing within a baby faced exterior. Vlad's eyes turned back to him, turbulent oceans of blue calming to safe lagoons again.

"Yes. I fear you are correct. There is much I could have done better and not enough time for me to atone for them all."

Vlad refused to look at the head again, focusing instead on Harry.

"How did the Gaunts get arrested? They didn't seem very co-operative."

"Ogden returned with back-up. Eventually they were overpowered. The Gaunts were a product of their bloodline long set in its way, sadly beyond help."

"What way?"

Again, Vlad answered.

"Marrying their own cousins. Like the Royal families. Keeping their line pure and their money contained. Only we know that consistently shallow gene pools produce physical and mental difficulties and defects. Riddle was the first in four generations not to be a Gaunt on both sides. Their family tree must look like a badly tied knot."

Harry frowned, thinking of Sorrow and Solace Slytherin. Their bloodline had been twisted long before the Gaunt family ever existed. It was remarkable Solace was as rounded as she had been, given the genetics contributed.

"Indeed. The family money had been squandered generations ago, leaving Marvolo Gaunt with a sense of entitlement and grandeur with naught but squalor to show for it. And they were all quite mad."

Dumbledore added, reminding Harry again of the locket and ring waved around by Marvolo. He knew where the locket was. Riddle had made a horcrux from that heirloom, perhaps they should be seeking other items of such history for the others.

"So that's where his name came from."

Vlad cocked his head, thinking before nodding.

"Tom for his father. Marvolo for hers. Riddle for... anonymity? A protective instinct maybe? She wanted him free of the stained family tree. Nobody would go looking for a Muggle family name."

"I have a memory that will pertain to that should you wish to continue Harry."

Harry chewed on the thought before nodding.

"Vlad should come too. Anything you show me he would find out anyway since we practice Legilimency and Occlumency together."

Both had iron-clad shields on their minds, but Vlad could read him like a book and was almost biologically incapable of lying to Harry. So they shared pretty much all they knew anyway.

"Very well. Though I don't know how a pensieve will respond to a vampire."

Vlad scowled, heading to sit in Harry's vacated seat.

"I'll wait. You're not in any real danger from memories I guess."

As if settling in for the duration, Vlad pulled out a bottle of pumpkin juice and his Arithmancy book. Harry could only smile fondly at the insolent vampire.

"Shall we Harry?"

Dumbledore poured the memory without waiting for an answer, setting off the oceanic glows again. He turned back to look at Vlad, receiving an encouraging smile over the binding of the hardback cover. Then he placed his face in the strange substance again, world tilting anew until they landed in a busy London street.

A man with auburn hair and beard and a violently purple suit was climbing the steps of a building, one that had once been white until time and neglect left it a filthy, aged grey. Harry waited to see the mans face, eyes widening in surprise as the man stretched up to check a faded sign read "Wools Orphanage."

"Is this _your_ memory sir?"

"It is indeed. This is the very first time I met Tom Riddle junior, the future Lord Voldemort."

Harry and current-Dumbledore followed past-Dumbledore up the steps. It was stark and uninviting, looking like an underfunded hospital with its sterile setting of cold and lonely, ungiving. Harry wondered if this was what his childhood would have been had the Dursleys not kept him as a glorified servant.

"Who are you?"

A nasally voice caught past-Dumbledore's attention, a woman in a bleach-white orderly uniform skittering toward him.

"Professor Dumbledore. I believe Mrs Cole is expecting me."

The orderly tsked, clucking as she scuttled off toward a 'STAFF ONLY' door. Past-Dumbledore waited patiently, patience rewarded when a harried looking woman, middle-aged and weary-eyed, bustled out and lay surprised eyes on his eccentric appearance.

"Ah yes. You're here about _him._ The Riddle boy."

"Quite."

Harry and present-Dumbledore followed past-Dumbledore and Mrs Cole up a winding staircase, nothing about the building growing any more inviting.

"He's never had a visitor. Not one. After that poor young girl rocked up on the steps outside fit to burst. Barely managed to tell us a name before she died, not an hour old he was."

Despite the tragic tale she spun, Harry detected no sympathy in Mrs Cole's voice at all.

"Tragic indeed. What sort of boy is he?"

Past-Dumbledore's voice was clinical, clipped too.

"Well" Mrs Cole hesitated, looking around "there have been... _in_ _cidents_ and the like with him and the other children. Nothing we can prove, mind."

"Such as?"

"Well, one of the girls was mean to him, laughing at his middle name or something. Next day, her pet rabbit is hanging from ceiling. No way a nine year old coulda got up there, and nothing to climb. But still..."

Harry listened intently. Was Riddle already controlling his developing magic at such a young age?

"Anything else?"

"He's a loner. Cruel almost. Just... strange. He refuses to see any doctors though. Been thinking maybe it should be beaten out of him."

"I doubt that would help any my dear lady."

"Hmm. This is his room. Just let someone know when you leave."

Harry baulked slightly at how quickly the woman left a near perfect stranger with a young child, following when past-Dumbledore opened the door to find a small boy standing by the window, staring through it's grimy glass as though dreaming to escape. The room was sparse, near empty. A bed. A wardrobe. A desk. A chair. Little more other than a few shiny pebbles arranged by size along the windowsill, a photo of a gloomy mountain on the grimy wall.

"I'm not seeing a doctor."

His voice was cold and devoid even then.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm a professor."

"Same difference. She wants me looked at. Thinks I'm mad."

"Hogwarts is not a place for mad people Tom. Hogwarts is a school. A school of magic."

Harry watched for the reaction, the explanation of never quite feeling right in his world. Riddle barely even blinked.

"I can do things. Things _they_ can't do. I can punish them for being mean to me. I can make them _hurt._ If I want."

If Harry weren't watching the little boy himself, he would be shocked to know the child speaking was only ten. He was so against the world, cold and cruel and indifferent. And already controlling the bursts of accidental magic that confused many a Muggle born.

"At Hogwarts, you'll be taught not only to use magic, but also to control and respect it. These incidents of yours will have to cease; using magic on your classmates can end in expulsion."

Riddle sneered slightly.

"Prove it."

Past-Dumbledore flicked his wand. Riddle's wardrobe caught fire. It was the first real reaction he had seen from the boy; everything he owned probably resided behind the wooden doors. Harry noticed after a second or two that the flames were harmless to the wood, leaving no smoke or singeing anywhere.

A rattling noise could be heard, emanating from the wardrobe.

"I think something in your wardrobe wants to get out Tom."

The boy approached the blazing inferno, finding it didn't touch him with heat or pain. He opened the doors and pulled out a shoebox, which he emptied onto the bed. They were tiny trinkets; a doll, a harmonica, a toy car.

"Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts Tom."

Trophies.

Harry only half-listened as past-Dumbledore started talking about school supplies and term time. He heard Riddle insist he could navigate Diagon Alley himself for school supplies, Harry's mind whirling as he pictured hundreds of people passing this lonely little boy, watching him shop for supplies alone and not knowing who he would become.

Instead he looked at past-Dumbledore, then present-Dumbledore.

"Did you know then sir?"

"That I was talking to perhaps the most evil wizard to ever cast shadow upon the Earth? No. Perhaps if I had known, I might have-"

Whatever he was to say, Harry never knew as he fell silent to let boy Riddle speak.

"I can speak to snakes too. They find me. Whisper to me. Is that _normal_ for someone like me?"

There was no mistaking he saved this revelation for last, for dramatic effect.

"It's uncommon, but certainly not unheard of..."

Blackened water seemed to surround them as they surfaced, and Harry immediately turned to seek out Vlad. His cheeks were oddly tinged bright pink, and Harry could sense he was flustered. It wasn't until he saw Dumbledore just standing up himself that he realised Vlad had basically been presented with the view of Harry bent over for Merlin knew how long.

He offered his boyfriend a wink, which only deepened the flush of his cheeks and Vlad hid behind his book quickly.

"Do we have any more memories to look at tonight sir?"

Harry rather wanted to get Vlad into a bed. He watched Vlad squirm in response to Harry's mood shifting, then got a rather judgemental look from Fawkes. Oops.

"Just the one. This memory was taken from Morfin Gaunt after he left prison, and as such may be a tad hazy in places."

"Ok. Let's go. Sure you can't be tempted Vlad?"

Vlad clamped his mouth shut and Harry knew why - he didn't want to talk temptation in front of the headmaster.

"I'll pass. I'm sure you'll pass on the details."

Harry nodded, enjoying the squirming vampire a minute more before he turned ti watch Dumbledore pour in a third memory. The pensieve never seemed to get any fuller as the silvery, gauze-like memories fell into the liquid surface with barely a ripple.

"Down we go then."

Tipping themselves into the final memory of the evening, Harry gave a thought to Vlad staring at him before the sudden appearance of a painfully familiar face tore his attention away from his boyfriend.

A teenaged Tom Riddle walked along the path - how did Morfin know that for it to be in the memory? Harry shook his head - toward the shack. With Merope long dead and nobody else inhabiting the hovel, the exterior looked to be a rotten mass of wood held together by overgrown ivy and magic alone. Showing his lacking manners, Riddle pushed the blackened, damp wooden door open paying no mind to the decomposed snake there.

Morfin launched himself at the intruder, knife held aloft and guttural hisses escaping from behind a curtain of greasy, matted hair. He obviously thought Riddle was the Tom Riddle snr he had attacked before, who his sister had longed after. The resemblance was truly uncanny.

Riddle kept him at bay with a whispered spell, then the two began to converse in Parseltongue.

 _"I'm not who you think I am. I came in search of answers only."_

 _"A snake speaker? Oh, the wench only went and did it!"_

 _"Did what?"_

 _"Had the spawn of that filthy Muggle! A direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin and look what she did!"_

Harry watched Riddle recoil at the mention of his Muggle father, though it was clear the information wasn't new.

 _"Tell me about it."_

 _"She musta slipped him something. Always was good at potions. Shit at cooking though."_

 _"Hm."_

 _"Heard she sold our locket too. Family heirloom. All to support a spawn like you no doubt, since your daddy didn't stay."_

 _"Explain yourself!"_

 _"Well Tom senior still lives local. Got a wife and brat. You should visit them, might scare them to death!"_

The memory ended after that, all but throwing them to reality again.

"Morfin Gaunt was many things, but he should not have died as he did. Believed guilty by all for the deaths of Tom Riddle, his wife and his son. He never remembered the murders."

"Because he didn't do it."

"No. I firmly believe Voldemort killed them. Used the murder of his father to craft _this_ particular horcrux. Left them with expressions of pure terror... just as Morfin said."

Ducking behind his desk with surprising speed, Dumbledore produced the black ring Marvolo Gaunt had jammed up Bob Ogden's nose. Harry could taste the residual dark magic, saw a thick crack down the centre of the gem that almost obscured an emblem, perhaps a family crest. Unafraid of black magic, Vlad picked it up gingerly.

"That's not a Slytherin crest. Where did he get this?"

"Correct. I believe that on the non Slytherin side of the Gaunt heritage resided the Peverell family."

Harry felt his stomach clench. His family history just kept twining tighter together; Solace Slytherin had been the first magical Peverell, by name if not by blood. Which meant to compound their inter-familial marriages, the Gaunts stemmed from two indivudal branches of a co-mingled Slytherin bloodline.

Without James Potter, Harry's _entire_ line could be traced back to Salazar Slytherin. And there was a Potter in that family too, though far more dilute and had been kept separate from the family that James had. He remembered that particular Potter had been thought killed by Salazar's son.

"The Peverell brothers? The ones from the story?"

"Correct Vladimir. Of course that is just that. A story."

"You're lying. You know one exists. You had James Potter's cloak."

 _Oh come on!_

"The Potter line comes from the Peverell too?"

"The oldest Peverell brothers line died a while back. I believe the middle brother is the Gaunt ancestor, and the youngest would be Potter ancestors."

"Why those?"

"That's who had what. The elder brother had the wand. The middle the stone. The younger the cloak."

Harry's head was spinning. He needed a lie down.

"Harry's had enough for tonight professor. I'm taking him back to Gryffindor tower."

"I'll contact you regarding our next session Harry."

Vlad had pocketed the broken horcrux. Harry could feel it. It was twitching, pulsing almost at him.

"How did you know that story?"

They had left the staircase now, spotted by an auror who could do nothing but continue patrolling as it was clear where they had been.

"It's in a book. Tales of Beedle the Bard was originally written in runes. We translated it in class."

"Oh."

"Take it you'd never read Babbitty Rabbitty?"

"Babbitty what? No, come on. You were raised in the Muggle world."

"Yeah but my dad read me Grimmer Fairy Tales. Vampire and the Princess. The Werewolf Under The Bridge. Vladarella and the Coffin Of Death. You get the picture."

Harry couldn't help chuckling at 'Vladarella'.

"Was that for real?"

"Actually, that one might have been made up by Ingrid. I forget."

Snorting with laughter, Harry sighed in relief at the sight of the portrait guarding their tower.

Except she wasn't in it.

"She could be gone all night."

"We'll give it ten minutes, then if she's not back we can go to Bertrand's old quarters."

Harry nodded in agreement, leaning against the wall. He wanted to tell Vlad all the specifics of the memories, but not where they could be overheard.

The Fat Lady didn't reappear, so they slipped beneath invisibility magic and made for Bertrand's old quarters. It meant waiting for a passing prefect on patrol to round a corner so they wouldn't see the door open, but then they were set. Peckish and thirsty, Harry called for a visitor.

"Bubbles?"

The elf popped up, bowing deeply to Harry and Vlad.

"How can Bubbles help young masters?"

"Tea, pumpkin juice and maybe some sweet things would be great. Vlad?"

"A steak. Rare."

He grit it out but Harry understood, his vampirism fluctuating.

"Steak sounds good. Make that two."

Vlad looked soothed by the reminder Harry ate oddly too, the two settling before the trays laden with tea and juice and cakes and pudding appeared. Then two red hunks of meat, scarcely touched by heat, popped in too and both teens set in ravenously.

Bloodlust satiated, Harry settled against Vlad's chest with a cup of tea and a large iced cauldron cake, beginning to tell him all he had learnt that evening. Just talking it out helped Harry make sense of it all, and Vlad's insight was favourable. When they got to the third memory, Vlad pulled the ring from his pocket again, rolling it beneath his fingers.

"The curse is dead now, but I'd bet my OWLs this is what did that to Dumbledore's hand."

"What is it?"

Vlad let it roll into Harry's outstretched hand, the magic immediately curling out of it to wrap around Harry's hand. It dissipated before he could panic, seeming to flare in recognition.

"What were you saying about a stone earlier?"

"Harry, what do you know of the Deathly Hallows?"

-YDHP-

 **I figure all your questions about Harry's immortality are somewhat answered by this chapter? The ending at least.**

 **I'm really trying to hit weekly updates again, please forgive me.**


	19. Three Brothers

**You - Glad you enjoyed the Harry-centric chapter. Here's another!**

 **Tale of the Three Brothers taken from Harry Potter Wikia, so any differences from movie or book are theirs not mine.**

 **Also there's a blowjob in this chapter if we're still doing warnings.**

-YDHP-

"The Deathly what?"

Vlad rolled his eyes fondly, kissing Harry's hairline before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his shrunken backpack.

"The Deathly Hallows. Hang on."

Hunting, Vlad pulled out a book all in runes. Harry couldn't translate a word of it. Vlad however, had no problems it seemed. Apparently it was story time. He quite enjoyed Vlad's voice, so Harry settled in for the duration.

 _"Three brothers, travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim or wade would drown. Learned in the magical arts, the brothers conjured a bridge with their wands and proceed to cross._

 _Halfway though the bridge, a hooded figure stood before them. The figure was the enraged spirit of Death, cheated of his due. Death cunningly pretended to congratulate them and proceeds to award them with gifts of their own choosing._

 _The eldest brother, a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. Death granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree standing on the banks of the river. The second brother, an arrogant man, chose to further humiliate death, and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Death granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank._

 _The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, did not trust Death and asked for something to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow. A reluctant Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Invisibility Cloak. The three brothers took their prizes and soon went on their separate ways._

 _The eldest brother travelled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarrelled lived. He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter._

 _Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from the duelling site and spent the night there. Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by Death and his own invincibility._

 _That very night, Death transfigured to a murderous wizard. The unknown murderous wizard crept to the inn as the eldest brother slept, drunk from wine. The wizard slit the oldest brother's throat for good measure and stole the wand. That was when Death took the first brother._

 _The second brother returned to his home where he lived alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him, much to his delight. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered._

 _Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, committed suicide by hanging from his house' balcony so as truly to join her. That was when Death took the second brother for his own._

 _Death searched for the youngest brother as years passed but never succeeded. It was only when the third brother reached a great age, he took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals."_

Harry sat processing for a minute while Vlad took a hearty mouthful of juice, mouth probably dry from the storytelling.

"Ok. I must be being really dense, but what does this have to do with the ring?"

Vlad turned the book, which may as well have been written in Cuneiform for all the good it did Harry. He pointed at a mark partway down the page. A sort of triangle was there, maybe a weird looking eye.

"See this symbol here? It's the same as the ring."

Vlad held the ring up and Harry squinted, seeing how the scratches sort of did resemble it through the crack. Realisation hit Harry with no further explanation.

"This is the stone. The Resurrection Stone. But what's a Deathly Hallow?"

"These three items in the story. _They_ are the Deathly Hallows."

"And?"

"And if what I felt when you held that is right, I know why you're immortal."

"Vlad, you're killing me here!"

His boyfriends mouth quirked slightly in amusement.

"Interesting choice of phrase. When one combines these three items, they make one Master Of Death. Meaning, they control death. I don't know specifically what it means, but I do know that since the three were created to beat Death, it stands to reason that if only one person can combine and control them then a human lifespan is pointless."

"Right. But I only have one."

 _"Two._ You have the Cloak. Which is why I think your dad's family descended from the youngest brother. If it helps, he was the smart one."

"But Solace was a Peverell. So The Peverell line is from Slytherins daughter. Riddle's line is from Slytherins son. I am both sides a Slytherin."

"You're a... what did Samael call it? A dual Slytherin heir. Like your mom."

"Oh. That's true. Not big on the rampant inbreeding in my ancestry."

Vlad hummed to himself, tracing shapes absently on Harry's forearm.

"Not uncommon in magic families anyway. Draco told us about his family remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And there have been cases of vampires mated to blood relatives the way I am to you. Harry, you're seeing it from a Muggle perspective rather than a magical one. You aren't even fully human... and it _clearly_ hasn't impacted you the way you're worried it has."

Frowning, Harry had to accept Vlad had a point logically. He compared himself to Morfin and Marvolo Gaunt and found no similarities.

"How did the locket and the Cloak come through differently then if they are all Solace's line?"

"My guess is that somewhere there was a squib daughter who got the locket, maybe even before the Peverell time. The Peverell name was passed through the male line, which means there was a divergence somewhere between a girl who got the locket and a son who got the Cloak. We're talking a millennia here Harry, there are only a handful of creatures alive then and now and the only one I know doesn't know _everything."_

Harry nodded, feeling his scales prickle in acknowledgement.

"Samael. I need to talk to him about..."

He trailed off, looking at the ring in his hand again.

"The second brother used the stone to bring back loved ones. Could I..."

Vlad understood immediately, knowing what was twisting its way around Harry's heart.

"That's up to you, but you know they can't stay."

Curling his fist around the ring, Harry fought and lost against tears. Vlad didn't take more than a heartbeat to reach out to him, enveloping Harry with cool arms and a sense of safety.

"If you want a minute alone-"

"No. I want you to meet them."

He _heard_ Vlad's heart beat a little harder in response, but he didn't shy away from something that would probably scare off most - "hey wanna meet my dead parents with this one of a kind magical artifact?" - and Harry loved him all the more for it.

"So, what do I do?"

"Turn it thrice in hand. Focus on who you're calling back."

Harry closed his eyes and took a few deep, steadying breaths. His usually dry scales were allowing his palm to sweat, nerves building as he clutched the ring so tightly the stone dug into his skin painfully. He pictured his parents.

One.

Two.

Three.

Vlad shook him gently, prompting Harry to open his eyes. His heart almost stopped as he looked up into the faces of his parents. They were faded, ghostly apparitions but so clearly, beautifully _them._

"Harry?"

"Mom? Dad?"

He stood, finding he was just above equal height with Lily and a touch shorter than James. Perfectly between them. They both looked as hungry as he to drink in their features.

"Look at you!"

"Almost a man now aren't you son?"

Their voices coiled around his scaled skin like a hot bath, comfortable like soaking in a warm summers day. Lily's sweet lilt and James' firm yet gentle baritone. They were there and not there at all at once.

They died for him.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh Harry" Lily reached for him, her hands not corporeal but he could feel them all the same "you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I never wanted you to die for me."

"Son" James placed a ghostly hand upon his shoulder, and Harry felt that too "we would do it a thousand times over. A million. It was worth it to see you now. Strong and grown and, dare I say, in love."

Harry turned to Vlad, who had stayed out of the moment until then. He held out his hand, Vlad's clasping it in response instantly. He stood at Harry's side, the tallest of the group but looking infinitely smaller faced with such an intimate, personal and unique situation.

"Mom. Dad. This is Vlad."

Vlad bowed his head to each of them, as if being introduced to some pureblood suitor. Nervous and reverting to how he would have been taught to react to vampire royalty. Before he _became_ it, that was.

"Lovely to meet you Vlad."

"Are you taking good care of my boy Vlad?"

James Potter came over stern, unsettling Vlad slightly but his answer was clear, solid.

"Always."

Lily smacked him anyway, apparently able to gain purchase on him as another apparition.

"Don't scare him James!"

"I had to be sure what with the undying thing."

"That's no excuse!"

Harry couldn't help it; he started laughing. Vlad turned to him, faintly bemused but smiling.

"What's funny?"

"How much my mother reminds me of Hermione. My best friend is basically my mother."

Vlad grinned, nodding.

"I quite agree."

They sat and talked with Lily and James for _hours,_ exchanging school stories and Harry heard memories of the first year of his life. He heard confirmation of what Remus and Sirius had said about Pettigrew and the Fidelius Charm. The betrayal.

In turn they told the stories of facing up to Voldemort and the struggles that came with it. It was cathartic; Harry had never expected he could say so much to his parents faces. Would never hear their voices other than a scant memory or two from when he was barely a year old.

Dawn began to break before they moved.

"We have to go now. We've stayed longer than we should have outside the Veil."

Harry wanted to protest, not done absorbing them.

"But-"

"Harry my love" his mother touched his face, a ghostly whisper on his skin "you can call us again if you need us. But remember son"

"We're always right here."

His father placed a hand over Harry's heart, and Harry could have sworn pressure appeared over his clothing. They stepped back, waiting.

"What's wrong?"

"You have to send us back. Turn it back."

Turn it back... Harry realised they meant the stone, still held in his hand. Somehow he knew the connection could break if he put it down; he called them to him, he had to hold them.

"I love you. Both of you."

"And we love you too son."

Tears rolled freely as his father spoke, falling faster when his mother joined.

"Go on Harry, it's alright."

Harry turned the ring over.

One.

Two.

Three.

They faded from sight, and Harry cried openly. Vlad let him, held him and murmured comforting noises but didn't try to talk him out of his emotional outpouring of sobs. It felt like hours before Harry sensed his tears slowing, face hot and head pounding. He pulled himself together just enough to sit up, noticing Vlad's skin was reddened where Harry had been crying.

Of _course._ His tears carried his venom.

"Sorry. That must hurt."

Vlad looked down for a second, then shook his head.

"Nope. Maybe my phoenix side protects me."

Samael had been insistent that his own Basilisk side wasn't a threat to Vlad. The scar on Vlad's neck said as much. Harry played his fingers through the colourful glow around Vlad's skin, his magical aura pulsing away in response to Harry's own. It was strange, literally seeing how Vlad sensed him there.

"It's almost breakfast."

Vlad shook his head, sitting up properly.

"You aren't going anywhere. Except a shower and sleep. You've got Quidditch practice this evening and you need to rest."

"What about you?"

"I don't need as much sleep as a human, nor do I need the energy to fly for three hours later."

Harry frowned.

"I don't want to sleep alone."

"And I don't want to let you but both of us being absent will attract attention."

A sudden throbbing blackness shimmered through Vlad's magic, and Harry knew what it was before Vlad reached for his chest with a deep groan of pain.

"Is Riddle calling you?"

"Not me specifically. He's in a bad mood and calling a meeting, presumably for target practice. Go shower, then we'll eat and you can take a little Dreamless Sleep."

"Do you need to go?"

Vlad shook his head

"No. He knows I wouldn't skip class for him."

"Coming?"

His boyfriend quirked an eyebrow, realising what he was asking when Harry indicated the bathroom. Vlad never had to be asked twice. He scrambled up to follow Harry, shifting between phoenix form and humanoid to dull the ache of his Mark. Harry spent the time admiring the dark yet brilliant plumage of his boyfriends feathered side, wondering how Samael and Fawkes couldn't be comfortable close yet Vlad and Harry could.

Though for that moment, all Harry cared for was that they could. Vlad knew Harry disliked the Mark, which darkened when active and stood out more starkly on Vlad's scarred chest. So once he was done washing Harry's hair for him - one of those things he adored doing - and bubbles were swirling the drain, Vlad took to his knees with a clear intention.

Harry let his head fall back against a tiled wall as Vlad's mouth surrounded him, eager and a little clumsy still but _Merlin_ it felt amazing all the same. Harry had no basis for comparison, obviously, but it was Vlad and it was incredible to feel a nimble tongue under his glans, wet suction and Vlad's hand squeezing the base of his shaft. He moaned softly around Harry's cock, a glance down against eyes wanting to close showing Harry Vlad had taken himself in hand.

It was an image Harry found almost unreasonably erotic, obscene and beautiful all at once. Vlad's hands were pale against Harry's fading tan - the sunshine was disappearing rapidly at this time of year - and he appreciated the contrast, then Vlad dragged his mouth further down and Harry's mind went blank with bliss.

Clean enough to get out of the shower at last, Vlad called them an elf to bring breakfast while Harry attempted to get his hair to lie flat. He was stalling really; emotionally fried after the long night talking to his dead parents. Vlad had been right back in front of the Mirror of Erised, Harry couldn't dwell too long with them but oh he had needed that. And he could call them back again to see them if he needed. They would always be waiting.

The smell of _everything_ he liked hit Harry all at once - piles of meat and mushrooms and black pudding. Vlad's bloodied appetite had calmed again that morning, displayed by how he was eating porridge and jam on toast with barely a look at the mountain of bacon and sausage Harry fell to. There was even a pot of blueberry jam.

"You done?"

Vlad asked as Harry rolled the last bacon rasher into a cylinder before popping it into his mouth. Chewing and swallowing, Harry nodded.

"I'm gonna go wash the bacon grease off me though before you drug me."

He waited patiently to push Harry toward a bed. Normally an appealing thought, but since he was going alone just to sleep it was considerably less so. Harry swallowed the halfdose of Dreamless without argument, settling into plush covers.

"I'll tell everyone you're sick, Madam Pomfrey can't confirm or deny."

"Mmmkay."

Harry was already drifting to sleep, hoping not to have any bad dreams despite the potion supposedly blocking them. It had failed him a couple of times after all.

Luckily, Harry woke just before lunch feeling hungry and surprisingly refreshed. His sleep had allowed time to process subconsciously, allowed time for emotions to stabilise somewhat so he could feel some happiness rather than loss and grief for his parents. He had little doubt Vlad knew he was awake with those uncanny senses of his, and by the time Harry made it to lunch to feign a minor stomach ailment Madam Pomfrey had cured, Vlad had a clear space next to him for Harry to take.

"Feeling better?"

"Yep. How much trouble am I in with Hagrid you reckon?"

"He was a little put out but you'll be forgiven I'm sure."

Harry grinned, starting on his steak pie and a wonderfully mushroom heavy lasagna. George had lasagna too, but she was currently adding garlic mayonnaise and crushed barbecue crisps to the top...

Vlad had a weird sister. _Two_ weird sisters, Harry corrected himself, thinking of the self titled Ice Queen at the Slytherin table. The one who cared more for Vlad than she would ever admit to, up to and including accepting his half human status.

"Hey, when's the next meet up?"

One of the Weasley twins gently enquired under the guise of reaching for a fresh bottle of ketchup near Harry.

"Well we have Quidditch tonight, so tomorrow. I'll set the coins after I eat."

"Excellent!"

Harry nodded, stirring a spoon of sugar into his cup of tea. He was thankful tea was served all through the day, which Romanian-born Vlad said was clearly because British people needed tea at all times.

"Says the one who's blood type is pumpkin juice!"

-YDHP-

 **Probably not an all- Harry chapter again soon but hey it was a change I guess.**


	20. Double Meetings

**In answer to review - Vlad gets his fangs when he turns sixteen. His birthday is in June, so his sixteenth birthday will be toward the end of fifth year. Which means it will be in** ** _this_** **'book'.**

-YDHP-

"Today we'll be working on incapacitating spells. Non-lethal, and if possible non-injurious."

Vlad watched on proudly as Harry led the Defence group, enjoying the sight of his mate's confidence building before his eyes. He ignored others throwing Harry's muscled physique admiring or lustful looks. He wasn't jealous - Harry was beautiful, people were bound to notice.

"Why? A Death Eater isn't going to care about that."

His hand twitched, wanting to cover the Mark on his chest though virtually nobody else knew it was there.

"Fighting them is no reason to stoop to their level Timmons. If you came here to learn to hurt other people, you're in the wrong place. The whole point of this is _Defence,_ not Dark Arts."

Timmons scowled and Vlad twisted slightly inside. He had stooped to levels nobody else had and Harry knew that.

"Cedric? Can I borrow you?"

Vlad ignored the memories of Harry and Cedric at the Yule Ball. He had no cause for distress - Harry had outright asked why he hadn't danced with Vlad, and at the time Harry hadn't come to terms with his feelings. Cedric was a good guy.

"Me?"

"You're the tallest here. I thought it would be a good impression of how a teenager might look against an adult duellist?"

The Head Boy stepped forward, canary yellow stripes on his jumper sticking out against the backdrop of Slytherin students in their 'group' behind him. Ingrid was with them, but Vlad knew she was keeping a wry eye on her little brother.

"Want me to put a hood on and scowl really viciously?"

Harry laughed, automatically loosening the knot in Vlads chest. He knew he was distressed by the pain starting in his chest, the reminder he had a role to play for both sides and he had to be careful when one of the other members of their 'club' was Marked. Vlad's actions would be reported on. While he could lie and finesse and outright irritate Voldemort with impunity, he had to maintain a visible degree of neutrality where possible. It might well be necessary in the future.

"Nah. Just focus on slowing me down or stopping me dead without hurting me. I'll defend, then we'll swap."

"Silent?"

"Not first time. They should know what we're doing."

"True."

Vlad clamped down his instincts for a minute, almost cutting the bond off. Harry twitched, looking around at him as though he could feel the dulling. Their bond wasn't two way because Harry wasn't a vampire... maybe Vlad had made a noise or something. Harry's magical senses were different - the Dark Mark setting off was something Harry could tell by Vlad's aura apparently now.

"You ok Harry?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Checking where people are so shield charms don't knock them out."

Harry lied very smoothly, and Vlad held back the urge to leap on Cedric when he did the thing Harry asked for and and shot an Impediment jinx at him. He knew what would happen if he came to the meetings, knew Harry wanted to demonstrate. Harry shielded silently, though Vlad would bet he dialled it down to ensure it looked like a little bit of a struggle for him not to speak the charm.

"Ok. Now you're the victim."

Cedric, ever a good sport, grinned and held his wand ready.

"Bring it."

Harry fired back the Impediment jinx, which Cedric managed to counter but Harry was fast and followed it with a _Petrificus._ The Head Boy froze solid, eyes the only part able to move. From his spot Vlad noted how the almost-adults magic and heart rate slowed down, flowing normally when Harry reversed his curse.

"Smart. Element of surprise."

"Exactly. Ok, everyone get into pairs and try it out in turns."

Vlad joined Harry in circling, checking on each groups spell work. Ingrid threatened to hex him when Vlad jokingly told her to watch her grip.

"I'll show you how fine my grip is around your throat. You still need to breathe."

The siblings exchanged a smirk and Vlad moved on to help the younger students. He didn't want to risk using magic with the periodic pulses of pain. He watched as Theo and Blaise took turns trading jinxes, Ginny against Hermione while Draco took a breather to chat with Neville.

His scars decided Vlad was too comfortable with just the Mark hurting, pain ripping along the cursed skin and Vlad almost transformed to his phoenix form in front of everyone just to stop the fierce aches. Harry saw him struggling, slid closer while everyone was busy.

"Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine. Just old injuries playing up."

Harry's proximity and concern was almost as potent as a painkiller, but Vlad knew he needed a potion or to transform. He wasn't too fussy which so long as he could _breathe_ soon.

"I'll say you need the bathroom or something. Go do what you gotta do."

Vlad wanted to protest, didn't want to leave Harry alone but Ingrid caught his eye and nodded. He took that to mean she would stay with Harry.

"I'm gonna go see what he wants."

"Be safe."

"I'll try."

Vlad slipped from the Room while Harry called everyones attention to the other side of it, moving on to different curses and hexes while Vlad made to move somewhere he could transform before sneaking off Hogwarts grounds. He _could_ apparate, but he wanted to keep that under wraps. And besides which it would be a tough explanation if he got splinched.

He transformed in a side corridor, just long enough to dull the ache. He shifted back, straightened up and shook like he still had feathers to ruffle. The corridor suddenly lit up, scaring the unholy hell out of Vlad as spontaneous flames filled the air. Parchment appeared within the flames, untouched, then dropped to the ground bearing Vlad's name.

Only his self-assurance it was phoenix fire he saw made Vlad pick it up.

 _Come to my office._

There was no name. There didn't need to be - only one person could send post by phoenix in Hogwarts. Vlad grit his teeth at the summons, but took himself to Dumbledores office. The gargoyle let him in immediately, probably surprising the Auror who seemed to be permanently stalking about the corridor outside the Headmasters office.

"Ah, Vladimir."

"What is it you want? I'm kind of in the middle of leaving the grounds."

Dumbledore knew where he was going and why. Vlad didn't beat around the bush.

"I am aware. I had a favour to ask of you."

"Which is?"

"I require a memory from somebody who I believe is where you are going."

Vlad cocked his head.

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"This is the copy of it I have. It is tainted. Altered."

Vlad took the delicate vial, watching the memory swirl around in it. It was too thick, almost sticking to the sides as it tried to flow, like a polluted river.

"If I look at this it'll be gone, you know that?"

"As I hope you can gain the true one, it is no true loss."

Not liking being so distracted while alone with the head he didn't really trust, Vlad cast a look to Fawkes that said "watch my back" before popping the spindly little stopper. The memory swirled thickly in his palm, Vlad taking a deep breath before pressing it to his temple so the memory would flow into him.

 _A room full of teenage boys eating and drinking. One of the boys stood out more so, handsome and chilling and charismatic all at once. Vlad saw the ring on his hand - Tom Riddle had already killed and created a horcrux. There was a shiny prefect badge pinned to his suit blazer - an oddly Muggle attire for the steadfast magic and pureblood supremacist. Perhaos it was to appeal to Slughorn, who appeared to favour waistcoats and cravats and smoking jackets in velvety material._

 _"Sir?"_

 _Riddle addressed the teacher; Horace Slughorn. Rather fatter and more flushed in fancy clothes than the man Vlad had met, but recognisable all the same. He had a fat hand buried in a box next to him._

 _"Yes Tom?"_

 _"Is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?"_

 _Slughorn betrayed surprise with his face. Riddle caught it._

 _"I don't know where you get your information... I don't know and I couldn't tell you if I did. Thank you fir the pineapple by the way" Slughorn lifted another chunk of crystallized fruit "you're quite right, it is my favourite. How did you know?"_

 _Slughorn was not a fantastic liar, but Vlad suspected he was slightly intoxicated. The memory was hazy at the edges and his face was a little slack._

 _" I have my sources."_

 _Like raping people's minds with brute force Legilimency. Riddle could finesse to the point he was near undetectable to most, but he was also impatient and easily irritated if he couldn't get in. He also got a thrill shattering someones mind from the inside._

 _The other boys started chittering nervously - that's how Slughorn seemed to hear it anyway. This was his memory._

 _"Good heavens! Headmaster Dippet will have us all in detention, it's past curfew! Off we go boys, I'll send an owl for the next dinner."_

 _Riddle hung back, arranging his face to look softer, friendlier. Or whatever the closest was that he could fake. Slughorn turned around._

 _"Come now my boy, it's curfew! I would hate to put a student of my own House in detention!"_

 _"I had a question sir."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"I was in the library the other day, and I came across a bit of rare magic."_

 _"I'm a Potions Master Tom, I think the Defence Against Dark Arts teacher would be a better person to ask about magic."_

 _A muscle twitched in Riddle's cheek. A bead of sweat formed on Slughorns brow. He might value Riddle for his charm and charisma and intellect, but the teen still unsettled him._

 _"I came to you sir, because... the other teachers don't get me. They might... misunderstand."_

 _Vlad watched as Slughorn fussed with the sleeve of his heavy jacket._

 _"Very well."_

 _"I was in the Restricted Section, and I came across this word. I believe it's called a horcrux."_

 _Slughorn visibly recoiled; he knew well what the word meant then._

 _"This is very dark stuff Tom. This is all hypothetical? Intellectual understandings, yes?"_

 _"Of course sir."_

 _Riddle was fighting to keep his face genial rather than hungry. Vlad was confused; Riddle had already **made** a horcrux by then. Why was he asking this?_

 _"A horcrux is an object that a witch or wizard conceals a part of their soul in. This way, should your body be destroyed, you can never truly die as part of your soul still inhabits this world."_

 _"But how does one split his soul? I don't understand."_

 _"I think you do."_

 _Something a little too bright and happy lit the eyes of the teenage killer._

 _"Murder."_

 _"Murder rips the soul apart. It is a violation against nature" Vlad suspected vampires would debate that as a whole "and leaves a stain like no other on man."_

 _Riddle started to give up his sense of maintaining casual interest, and Vlad now realised what he was really asking._

 _"Can one only split his soul **once?** For example, seven is the most powerful magic number-"_

 _"Seven!" Slughorn paled "isn't it bad enough to consider killing one person? But to rip the soul into seven pieces? Th-this is all hypothetical yes?"_

 _"Of course sir."_

The memory fizzled and faded away, leaving Vlad reeling on his feet.

"What about that was altered? Riddle asking about horcruxes or Slughorn telling him?"

Dumbledore's widened in surprise.

"You saw the true memory?"

"Well I saw what was in there. I don't know how you expect me to get anything from Slughorn without putting my double agent status at risk anyway."

"Please, explain what you saw?"

Vlad relayed the memory quickly, in a hurry to get visiting Voldemort out of the way so he could get back and take a hot shower and possibly pin his mate to a bed and taste the pheromones that intensified during sexual acts.

"That wasn't what he gave to me. Fascinating that you can see through the alterations."

He had the feeling Dumbledore was going to pour more memories into him sometime. And Vlad would do it, because it was aimed at helping Harry.

"Yeah, great. Can I go? Only I'm going to visit a guy not known for his patience."

Dismissed with a note excusing him being out past curfew - some twisted apology or gratitude from Dumbledore, he didn't know - Vlad slipped out of the ajar front doors of the castle. He wasn't sure why they were open at first, until he forgot to silence his shoes and the gravel path crunched beneath his foot.

"What was that?"

Vlad stayed still, silently charming his shoes to not make a sound and contemplating if he needed a further distraction. Umbridge was out on the grass, chatting and probably plotting something with one of the Aurors on site at Hogwarts.

"I don't know. I can't see anything! Stop making yourself look paranoid Dawlish."

Focusing, Vlad set fire to the bush behind Umbridge and 'Dawlish'. When they turned around, Vlad ran for it. His spell dulled it, but a little gravel was still displaced and rattled as he headed for the wooden bridge, then the grass. His steps echoed on the wood - Vlad was used to taking a side exit that came out down on the grass so he made little noise. When he saw the doors open Vlad opted to try and save a bit of time.

"Don't just stand there. After it!"

Vlad's laziness was possibly about to get him in trouble. Not with the Aurors, but the VHC would want an explanation that Vlad couldn't give. Allowing himself to be _branded_ by another was shameful, needed to be kept a secret. Only a bite scar from the vampire he married would be considered acceptable.

He had a scar from Harry, but they were neither married nor the same species.

Ducking sideways and sliding down wet grass, Vlad gripped a slat of the railing and swung up so they couldn't walk into him, watching Dawlish and Umbridge with their wands drawn looking truly confused. Vlad set off a minor explosion in the grass a few feet away, which threw soil and dampness and grass into the air. He grinned as he remembered tripping up the Minister for Magic with similar spells, dropped down from his perch and bolted for the Whomping Willow.

He froze it, knowing as soon as he passed the Hogwarts wards he could portkey out before Umbridge and the Auror caught on to the frozen tree.

It wasn't until Vlad landed in Riddle's compound that he regretted drawing such attention to his way out - the last thing he really needed was more security around. As amusing as they were to annoy. Dropping his Invisibility spell while he was alone for a second, Vlad shook off the nausea borne of having his magic yanked roughly along.

 _Everyone_ turned to look at him as he strolled in late, dressed in casual gear rather than cloaked and masked. Riddle eyed him, and Vlad wasn't certain if he looked amused or irritated. The flat reptilian features were Harry's area of expertise.

"Good of you to join us at last Vladimir."

Vlad hissed at a Death Eater who was in Vlad's usual seat, glaring until it was vacated so he could drop into the seat lazily.

"I was on my way a little sooner but then I stopped to play with some Aurors. Did I miss much?"

"Some talk of raiding Azkaban. Nothing concrete but it is so fun to watch the Ministry scramble for a spin, don't you agree?"

Vlad gestured to the already-escapee members of the meeting like Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Don't you already have what you wanted there? Or are you planning to empty it so much the Dementors have to go elsewhere for food?"

His leeway with Riddle was not missed by the Death Eaters, but they also knew that Vlad was merely a connector for their boss and for now, he was tolerating the teen vampire in order to obtain the key to his downfall in the hopes of preventing it.

"Perhaps."

The more Vlad looked at Riddle, the more he wondered if seven horcruxes were actually made. It would explain the brutal dehumanisation of the wizard before him. They had already tracked down at least three in the locket, the diary and the ring. That left four. Three if they assumed Riddle actually had a bit of a soul left inside him. He was almost completely certain Nagini was one, inadvisable as bonding a soul to a sentient creature was, by the way she responded almost _intimately_ to her owner.

Vlad would consider how Harry felt about having to kill a snake later. That still left two.

"I think its a stupid idea, but then that's because I think Dementors aren't controllable and they are only pretending to work for the Ministry because it gives them regular access to a captive feeding pool. They could hire vampires and never have a break out again since they would all be drained dry. Or turned, I suppose."

Something about the look on Riddle's face at the word 'turned' was deeply unsettling for Vlad. He really hoped he was wrong about that might mean.

"Quite. Are you quite finished with your juvenile interruptions?"

You Mark teenagers, you _get_ teenagers. Anyway, as you were."

Vlad gestured lazily, taking stock of who was in the meeting and keeping an ear out for anything pertinent rather than pontificating from the shiny crystal ball with a mouth that formed Riddle's head.

The meeting dragged on and grew progressively more boring, and then everyone was dismissed at last. Vlad lingered, testing to see if he could pick up anything but Riddle was only thinking about Harry at that moment. He clearly expected that turning Harry to the dark side would be all he needed, without having to work out a way to kill him with his guardian vampire and magical protection.

Of course, Riddle didn't know he was Harry's grandfather. Or that Harry was immortal.

"Did you want something Vladimir?"

"I did actually. I wanted to chat to your Potions guy."

"For what reason?"

"My reasons. I just wanted to check you hadn't got bored and killed him yet."

Riddle shook his head, twirling his wand between his fingers lazily.

"He's a pliable servant."

"Most of your lackeys are. Like Bellatrix."

Riddle smirked, exhaling a short icy chuckle.

"True. She is a most loyal... pet. If you wanted to make use of her, I can ensure she does as she is told."

There weren't many _less_ appealing prospects for Vlad. He allowed the cringe to roll through him.

"If I wanted a nonconsensual fuck I have my own ways. Not to mention that at least biologically, she's _human."_

"Please yourself. Shall we?"

Vlad knew he was going to ire Riddle with his question for Slughorn, but mostly he wanted to check the man was alive for now. And he wanted an answer to his curiosity without getting Moonshine started on a lecture of excitable tangents with little information for a bemused Vlad.

"I'm almost done My- oh. Hello."

Slughorn relaxed infinitesimally seeing Vlad, as though knowing he was somewhat safer when Vlad was in the way.

"I have a question and my Potions teacher wouldn't tell me. I was in the neighbourhood."

"How can I be of assistance?"

Vlad attempted to look casual and unconcerned, rather than intensely curious.

"Is it true babies conceived through love potions are incapable of love? A straight yes or no will do."

Oh, Riddle _definitely_ knew Vlad was at least thinking of similar circumstances to his own birth, if not directly thinking of him. As far as Riddle knew, virtually nobody knew how he came into the world.

"Yes."

"Thank you. Let's leave him to work shall we?"

Vlad looked pointedly at the door in a show of waiting for Riddle to leave first. He could at least buy Slughorn a few more minutes reprieve, maybe longer.

"What was that about?"

"It was something someone said to me. I know how things are exaggerated. So I thought I would check out of curiosity."

Vlad suspected Riddle could have been a very different person had he not been born to a woman who drugged someone into sex and marriage.

Or perhaps not. Vlad was proof nature and nurture weren't unavoidable blueprints. Else he would be the crude killer he was pretending to be.

-YDHP-

 **Not super exciting I'm sure but we are getting places.**


	21. Stolen History

**I confess I have lost my thread a little with this story; I know where I'm going but the journey is a little squiggled at the minute so forgive me if it's noticeable.**

-YDHP-

"Merlins pants, it's bloody freezing!"

"For the love of all that is evil Fred, use a warming charm."

"I'm George!"

"That joke doesn't work on me."

Harry hid laughter behind his hand as Vlad and the twins bantered, walking down to visit Hagrid - they would be seperating soon for Christmas.

Vlad was staying. Vlad and Ingrid. Harry was to go home with Draco to Malfoy Manor. Neither were happy about it, but there were a multitude of reasons for the split and only one against. Vlad and Ingrid's magical vampiric apparition would be visiting since Hogwarts was nearly empty. Harry and Draco desperately wanted to see Raven. It was a smart move _not_ to have Vlad and Harry always absent together.

It wasn't as though they would not see each other - they had portkeys, and Vlad and Ingrid were allowed to visit Hogsmeade during the holidays so there were ways to see each other. And Vlad would suffer the separation more than Harry - for Harry it was emotional. For Vlad it was _biological,_ ingrained within his soul to need Harry.

Ingrid might even be happy for the lacking in a constant reminder her own mate was gay and had a lover and a daughter, Harry mused. He couldn't imagine seeing Vlad with someone else that way; remembering Viktor Krum wasn't easy and that hadn't even been real. He knew Vlad was still friends with the Bulgarian Quidditch celebrity, but Harry couldn't begrudge that. It must be nice for Krum to have a real friend who didn't give a toss for the sport.

Hagrid was outside, broad back visible as he tended his chicken coop. Harry stayed a measured distance away, scales prickling at the sound of a rooster crowing. Vlad kept an eye on him, as always, making sure Harry wasn't about to keel over or transform.

"Hey, Hagrid! Stop playing with your feathered friends would ya before I freeze off my-"

"Ello kids! C'mon in!"

Hagrid ushered them in, Weasley twins groaning as the riaring fires heat bathed their chilled, freckled skin. Ginny was a little hardier, though Harry caught her rubbing her hands together over the flames when she went to hang her snow-damp cloak there to dry. Hagrid had a kettle boiling in no time, happy as could be to have nearly a dozen teenagers slung around his hut drinking from massive mugs.

"So, have you been _inspected_ yet?"

"No' yet, but tha' may be why I'm bein' replaced after the 'olidays."

"What? Why?"

"Unicorns are on the tests. They don' like men."

Vlad frowned.

"Can you let me know which classes they'll be in? I can't go. Even keeping my distance... it's too dangerous."

"Aye, I 'ave the schedule somewhere."

Vlad nodded his thanks and sipped his tea, hand twitching to rub his chest and trying to keep it looking like an absent itching. Riddle was growing more demanding of his followers presence, and according to Vlad he was in a progressively worse mood. More than likely because he was bound by an Unbreakable Vow to wait until Vlad was sixteen to _do_ any of his diabolical plans for world domination, else risk losing his magic and his (current) life.

"So, which of you are staying again?"

Blaise was so quiet Harry almost forgot he was there, despite the stand-out quality of his silver scarf and gloves combined with an emerald jumper under his black coat. Granted, Harry had a similar shaded t-shirt on beneath his Weasley jumper. As Ginny's boyfriend, Blaise was almost guaranteed to have his own cosy woollen surprise on Christmas morning. Assuming they didn't all come to Malfoy Manor for Christmas again anyway. Harry didn't know the plan but they all had portkeys.

"Vlad. Ingrid. I think he's the only one in our dorm staying... that must be odd."

"Think of all the studying for OWLs I'll get done."

"Think of all the Aurors off for Christmas. You can roam the halls like a mysterious wraith."

Blaise gestured broadly, chuckling lowly to himself.

"I could camp outside Umbridge's office and play pranks every time she leaves the room."

Harry got an idea of what to do before he left for the holidays, suppressing a mischievous grin behind his mug.

"I'm sure you'll pass the time."

"While we work on new ways to drive the scary pink woman mad over the holidays."

"Be ready for some fireworks soon after we return."

Hermione glared at the twins.

"Hey! We promised no exam times."

"The rest of the year is fair game."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, and they all turned in confusion to the front door as it knocked. They weren't expecting any late joiners. Fang grumbled in the doors direction as Vlad, closest to the door, opened it.

"Uh, I have a note to pass on, is Harry Potter here?"

"Yep."

The shaking first year Hufflepuff stumbled in soaked with snow and held out damp-spotted parchment to Harry, then rushed out as quick as he came in. Vlad closed the door, bemused.

"What's that?"

Naturally, everyone was curious. Harry thought quick.

"It's from Dumbledore. He's teaching me Occlumency. This is my next lesson time."

"How did he know where you were?"

Harry shrugged.

"It's Dumbledore?"

Fred hummed.

"Fair."

They left a while later, bellies bloated with tea and pleasantly warmed cloaks already attracting snow as they trekked through the thick white. Students were engaging in snowball fights, Aurors dodging them with wands out and annoyed looks on their sour, cold faces. Harry caught Vlad eyeing one of them closely, perhaps having had altercations with him or even saw him at a Death Eater meeting.

From what Vlad had worked out and told Harry, not _every_ Death Eater was Marked. Most were, but like Vlad some couldn't have a big brand stamped on their forearm. Particularly if they weren't survivors of the first time round, like Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange, who had a reason to bear the Mark. Those too young for that couldn't claim such a cause.

"So, Hogsmeade tomorrow everyone?"

Everyone agreed, Vlad adding to his.

"Yep. Remember as older students we are unofficial chaperones to the younger ones. Especially if the rumours are true."

"What rumours?"

Blaise quizzed, Ginny's pale hand curled around his dark one.

"Aurors stop-and-question-ing random people. I think there was even talk of bringing back the Dementor searches. Odd, isn't it? One escaped man imprisoned without a trial and the Wizarding World heaved with security. Voldemort comes back and all we have is people bored out of their minds wishing they could hex students. Everything else is all _talk."_

Vlad was bitter, resentful about the War. He had obviously hoped to avoid such messy politics between good and bad - murder was a common tactic for vampires so the war itself wasn't as shattering to him as everyone else - until it was his job. Instead, a motley group of kids and adults in hiding were the bulk of the resistance against Riddle.

Harry managed to nudge Vlad's hand with his, watching a visible leeching away of tension from his boyfriend. He never got bored of having such a potent effect on one person.

"My mother said there was a group of fighters last time. Secret resistance of the good side. I think she called it the Order."

"Order of the Phoenix" Draco supplemented "my father used to complain about them. It disbanded after Harry's baby victory. Unsurprising. If we had a photo of the original line-up and drew a red line on every one dead, the picture would be more red than anything else. I mean I'm sure Dumbledore is up to _something,_ but... who knows?"

Well, Harry did. Not that he felt the late night Pensieve sessions showing Harry the past of Tom Riddle truly counted as helping the light side, but Dumbledore was dying. There was only so much he _could_ do. For all Harry knew, the curse tearing him apart slowly could be sapping his magic and meaning he could only use his mind now.

He headed to the office that evening. Vlad was already there, going through his own pile of delicate glass vials and seperating them by a system Harry didn't understand.

"I wondered where you got to."

Vlad offered him a smile.

"Yeah, the Aurors change shift at quarter to so I can avoid them by coming earlier."

"Evening headmaster."

Harry remembered to greet the man behind the desk, who stood with surprising speed and circled the table to reach for the cabinet.

"I have two important memories to show you tonight Harry, one my own and the other belonging to a house elf."

Well, that was a change from the norm. It was still niggling though so he had to ask.

"What are you doing Vlad?"

"Sorting the altered and defective memories from the clean ones. See here?"

Vlad tipped the vial just so, and Harry saw the memory inside flow and curl like wet smoke. The other one, when viewed at exactly the right angle with light behind it appeared sluggish and thick. Gloopy memory.

"Weird."

"Yep. Go stick your face in that so we can be done for the night."

Harry headed across to the pensieve, watching Dumbledore tip the first memory into the swirling smoke.

"Is this your memory sir?"

"No, this is the memory of a house elf named Hokey, of Tom Riddle and a woman named Hepzibah Smith."

Nonplussed, Harry joined his headteacher in the memory. The room they landed in was utterly awful, looking like Umbridge's paradise as Harry took in the pink swathes of fabric everywhere. One of the masses of pink was moving, a violently bright affair on an _enormous_ woman. She was applying make-up to her fleshy face, giggling to herself girlishly. The make-up itself was expertly applied, but it wasn't really masking the size of the woman.

With all the frilly layers, Harry felt a bit like she resembled a melting tier cake. She covered simpering lips in rouge, then leaned into the mirror on her vanity to check for lipstick on her teeth.

"How do I look Hokey?"

"Mistress looks beautiful!"

Hokey must have _lying_ in her contract, Harry decided. Hokey was a scrap of an elf, but she seemed happy and unbeaten. She didn't cower or squeak in fear. The door knocked and Harry turned toward it automatically, then heard the woman immediately start giggling as she flapped her hands.

"Answer it Hokey, answer it! It's him!"

Harry watched on as Hepzibah grew flustered and headed out, barely able to navigate her enormous body between suits of armour and piles of shiny objects and aged artifacts all over every surface. The front door swung open and she wobbled with excitement, practically falling over for the man framed by the doorway. His hair was longer than it had been at Hogwarts, and his cheeks were hollow, almost sunken.

But when he compared the perhaps eighteen or nineteen year old to present day Tom Riddle, Harry supposed he looked surprisingly handsome. Of course, he already had at least two horcruxes under his belt by then.

"Tom!"

"Mrs Smith!"

"It's _Miss_ Tom, you know I'm not married."

"I'm just amazed nobody has noticed what a catch you are."

His charm was effortless but the sentiment was hollow; Tom wasn't there to flirt.

"I'm here on behalf of Mr Borgin as you well know. He's doubled the offer."

"Oh, he won't be happy until he takes that thing from my cold, dead hands! Hokey, bring us some tea?"

The elf shuddered under a groaning tray as she navigated the stacks of collectibles. Harry knew Hepzibah was carrying a torch for young Tom Riddle, which was probably how he got away with his requests.

"May I see it?"

"Oh, careful Tom. I'll think you're only here for my priceless artifacts!"

Well, he was. Harry knew Riddle didn't really look at women. Well, apart from Harry's own grandmother. And, according to Vlad, Bellatrix Lestrange. Neither woman resembled the melting pink creature before him now. Still, Riddle played on her crush ruthlessly.

"It's one of a kind. That's why Borgin wants it so much."

She simpered as she offered Tom tea, which he took but didn't drink. Perhaps Tom had learned from his fathers mistake and worried she would potion him into her bed. Hokey came back a minute later holding an ornate box, inlaid with gold filigree and sparkling gems. It opened to reveal a rather nondescript yellow-gold cup. Harry fancied it looked like a kids spelling bee trophy, small and unimpressive as it laid in plush velvet lining.

When he squinted though, he saw the emblem, a badger engraved and laid with tiny but perfectly shaped jewels.

"Helga Hufflepuff's cup."

"Said to possess all manner of powers. Though nobody is quite sure what. Even my family don't see this young Tom, I hope you feel privileged! And tell your boss I could never part with it.

The hunger in Riddle's face gave Harry a clue as to why he was seeing this memory. Then another box replaced the Hufflepuff cup, and he knew immediately it was fake. The real one was at Malfoy Manor.

"Slytherins locket, one of my other secret objects of course. For your eyes only, though I paid an extortionate amount of gold for this from your boss. Said he bought it from some ragged street urchin with no clue of it's true value."

Riddle seemed aware it was a fake, though Harry knew Riddle wouldn't encounter the true one for a few years yet. And that 'ragged street urchin' was, in fact, his mother and a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself. Harry wondered how the locket passed stringent checks, but it was starting to hurt his head imagining the twists and turns of Slytherins line.

"Pop these away now Hokey, the usual charms. And I've got some things for Borgin to buy, some troublesome fabrics and that cursed armour. Twelve bodies to it's name!"

They haggled back and forth for a while, then Riddle stood and said he would be back in two days with the gold and to collect the things. Hepzibah fluttered and waved all the way to his leaving, teetering forward in the painfully obvious hopes of a kiss. Riddle cringed where she couldn't see, leaning to the air just aside her cheek but she giggled hysterically all the same. Clearly, keeping on that woman's good side was a massive priority.

The memory faded around them, leaving Harry a little dizzy as the world stopped existing in shades of pink. Dumbledore was looking thoughtful too, though presumably he had seen it before.

"Sir?"

"Hepzibah Smith was found dead three days later, and her elf was found to remember accidentally poisoning her cocoa."

"Why would she do that?"

Harry asked, but he already knew the answer.

"She didn't. Voldemort was the murderer, and the thief of those priceless artifacts. He implanted the false memory of the murder in Hokey's mind."

Vlad chimed in then.

"And nobody looked further because she was just an old elf."

He looked annoyed about something.

"Indeed."

"And you hunted her down, took the real memory but didn't get her released?"

"Yes."

Vlad stood up with a sigh, stretching a crick out of his back.

"If you truly want to measure a man's character, look at how he treats his inferiors not his equals. How many people and creatures have you used and ignored in your quest for 'greater good'?"

Harry watched Dumbledore look very uncomfortable.

"Too many. Far, far too many. I do not have the time to make up for all my mistakes."

Vlad clearly felt Dumbledore had gotten away with too much, and there wasn't much time for him to be called out on past mistakes now. The blackened cursed skin of his hand looked ever more dark and deadly.

"Anyway, you have another memory to watch. I'm done with these by the way."

In the time Harry had been in the Pensieve, Vlad had organised the memories assigned to him and each careful pile had a parchment beneath with Vlad's ever-more elegant script with information on. Harry had no idea what it meant, but Dumbledore was pouring his own memory into the bowl and he moved to join him in it, because Vlad wouldn't leave until Harry did.

"This was the last time I saw Tom Riddle before he became exclusively known as Lord Voldemort."

Except to Vlad, who wound up the psychopath regularly by refusing to beatify him with such titles. Harry leant forward, slightly confused at the setting not changing but the people present shifted. Dumbledore and Riddle sat opposite sides of the Headmasters desk. Riddle was bald, but aside from his pale pallor and flatter nose he didn't look as... _reptilian_ as he did now.

"I'm afraid I can't offer you the position Tom."

"I have politely requested you not call me that."

Harry saw a less-than-polite expression on Riddle's face, but Dumbledore kept his composure.

"You must forgive an old man, but you will always be Tom, the little boy in the orphanage to me."

"I have spent my years travelling, learning, pushing the boundaries of magic further than many thought possible. Allow me to pass on this knowledge to young, moulding minds."

Dumbledore shook his head, placing his chin on steepled fingers.

"Unfortunately, I feel you are still woefully ignorant in some branches of magic. You deny the power of love, for example."

Riddle's head tipped and he hissed lightly - not a word, to Harry's understanding - in a distinctly snake-like manner of irritation.

"Love has no place in magic."

"And this is where we differ. You had to know I could never give you access to malleable minds Tom, not with your... practices."

At this point, Harry reckoned Dumbledore knew about the Horcruxes. It annoyed him; he could have spent the last fifteen years tracking them down to prevent Riddle returning and again. Why wait until now?

"You'll regret this."

Riddle swept from the room, and the memory dissolved again. They pulled out of the Pensieve, and Harry was admittedly confused.

"Ever since that day, I have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in the position for more than a year."

Harry thought on it.

"Can you curse a job post?"

"It seems so. However, I suspect that the open job post was not his only reason for returning to Hogwarts."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"I think perhaps that he followed in Salazar Slytherins footsteps and hid something within the walls of Hogwarts. He certainly believed he had plumbed every mystery of this school."

When Harry turned around to Vlad, the vampire was slowly going through the books on Dumbledore's shelves without permission. Fawkes was perched on his shoulder, waving lazily from side to side as Vlad moved.

"Are you enjoying my personal library Vladimir?"

"Just comparing it to other libraries I've seen. It's a bit limited but then I suspect you have a personal Restricted Section."

He raised a hand to scratch Fawkes' chest feathers and the phoenix trilled happily, rubbing his plumed head against Vlad's like an affectionate cat.

"Indeed. Any questions Harry?"

"None I expect answers to. Is that all for tonight? Only it's Hogsmeade tomorrow and I'd like to get an early night."

Harry was released and Vlad followed after saying a fond farewell to his kin, Fawkes soaring across to his perch and waving one wing in Vlad's direction before tucking his head under it for a nap.

"What are you thinking?"

He quizzed after telling Vlad about the memories that night, watching his boyfriend doodle the rough shape of the cup below a locket, ring and diary.

"That he used Hepzibah's death to make the cup a fourth horcrux. If we assume Nagini" Vlad added a snake to the drawings, circling coils with his quill "is another, that's five. Depending on whether we assume he counts seven to include the sliver left inside him, that's six. Meaning we have one more horcrux to account for. If he made seven horcruxes, that would make eight... but I think seven is a more likely total. Each death would have been important."

"Rose. His father. Perhaps someone at Hogwarts for the diary... how was Hepzibah Smith important?"

Vlad shook his head.

" _She_ wasn't, not really. But she had things he wanted. And it was the last thing he did before fleeing to Albania for years to hone his insanity."

"What's so special about a fake locket and a cup nobody knew how to make use of?"

Digging through his backpack, Vlad came out with a couple of thick dusty tomes.

"History. Riddle was a half blood with a deep shame for it. He had no ties to magical heritage that he knew of until the Gaunts. Even then, there was nothing remarkable to be gained; Morfin was a barely human maniac with nothing but hatred and loathing. Riddle craved proof he was important, powerful. Slytherin locket. Hufflepuff cup... I suspect we're looking for another founder object. Hence... these books on the founders."

Harry nodded, biting into a biscuit as he leant away from the books.

"I lean toward Ravenclaw. Someone obsessed with his Slytherin heritage isn't likely to use Gryffindor heirlooms."

Vlad smiled.

"Good thinking. I'll start with Ravenclaw... maybe I'll ask Luna tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

"She's going to Hogsmeade with Ginny."

"Of course you know that."

"They arranged it at your Defence club. Once you get past the rainbows and unicorns floating around her head, Luna is smart and funny. I mean, she _is_ a Ravenclaw."

Harry smiled at his boyfriend, then continued eating. His scales seemed to be a little itchy, making Harry wonder if he was due another growth spurt with lots of baths to soak off the layered skin. He hoped not; he was already noticeably bulkier than most of the boys in his year and Harry wasn't sure he could physically _eat_ any more than he already did to sustain the growth.

Though he wouldn't struggle _trying_ over Christmas with the Malfoy elves.

"Wizard!"

Lily woke when Vlad shifted the book next to where she was sleeping, one scaly eye opening to glare at the vampire before she slithered toward Harry. He offered her a little leftover sausage, which she eagerly took with an affectionate lick to Harry's fingers, then below his ear before she coiled loosely around his neck.

"I'm being eyeballed here."

"I think she's warning you off my neck."

"Samael said you couldn't be turned. You're immortal, I can't make you undead after the fact."

Harry stroked his familiars head.

"I think Lily is just making sure."

-YDHP-

 **More borrowing from the queen JK. All intellectual property of hers and so on. Twenty one chapters and we're only just getting close to Christmas. It'll start speeding up soon, this story has places to go!**

 **I'm sad we didn't get the Hepzibah and job interview scenes in the movie. It would have made the horcrux stories far more exciting.**


	22. Early Gift

**Probably late, I was in London for the w** **eekend/Monday and couldn't write but a good time was had by all!**

 **To make up for it (it was happening anyway but hey timing) have some misbehaving and debauchery.**

-YDHP-

Harry and Draco spent the first hour they were back shooing off house elves to try and get them to 'settle' back in, opting instead to spend time with Raven. She was over a year old now, walking and babbling and giggling constantly. She ran to them as soon as she saw them, dark curls falling all the way around her olive cheeks now to brush the top of her neck.

"Merlin you're getting big!"

Raven beamed, flashing some milk teeth at them and Harry couldn't deny she was an utterly enchanting little girl. They joined her on the floor to play with her toys, which included bats that could fly around her and squeaked realistically, a cauldron that let out harmless bubbles for her to pop and some plushie dragons that breathed smoke when squeezed.

"Dad!"

Bertrand was at her side instantly, but Harry noticed Severus hadn't moved other than to look over.

"Does she call you different things?"

The vampire nodded as he lifted Raven onto his bent knee, promptly receiving what Harry thought was called an 'eskimo kiss' as she rubbed her face on his.

"She does. Severus is 'daddy', and I'm 'dad'. It's quite remarkable to have such a distinction already."

"That's quite sweet. How is being stay at home dads?"

Bertrand smiled his crooked smile, tipping up more on one side than the other but it was serene, genuine as his icy eyes lit up.

"I can hardly complain about spending all day with this little miracle."

Raven smiled, patting Bertrand's cheek and then wriggling down to pop the bubbles coming out of her toy cauldron.

"How is everything at Hogwarts?"

"Mad. We have a secret Defence group and Vlad spends half his time irritating Aurors or Riddle, the Ministry is really on edge and Umbridge is doing her best to become a dictator."

They agreed to put in depth conversation off until Raven went for a nap, so Harry and Draco headed up to put their things away. Harry's room felt empty without Vlad's shoes by the door and his magic in the air, but he had promised they wouldn't be apart for too long. He knew realistically Vlad was suffering more, his symptoms of sadness and loss not quite comparable to Vlad's physical pain and biological pull to his mate.

"You had a Hogsmeade visit recently, did you not?"

Severus asked, sipping from a mug of coffee and the improvement in his overall health after nearly four months just he, Raven and Bertrand with no Voldemort attacking him or causing anxiety was clear in his demeanour.

"Yeah. Nothing thrilling, but there were Aurors everywhere and Vlad said there were security charms over the doors of half the shops. He couldn't go into Japes or Quills'R'Us because one of the charms detected Dark Marks, and one student was taken away for questioning because of it. There could have been more but we didn't stay too long, just chaperoning the younger students and finishing Christmas shopping."

Draco poured himself a fresh mug of tea, stirring sugar into it and leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

"There was talk of Dementor presence but guess they lost the fight to depress everyone right before Christmas."

Harry shuddered at the memory of Dementors. He wasn't sorry about them not being there.

"The Ministry are eager to be seen making an effort then?"

Draco nodded at Severus, speaking while Harry poured sugar into his tea to get a sweet hit alongside his iced biscuits.

"Yeah. Ingrid reckons they are nervous because of him being back but doing not a lot, since they don't know about him making that unbreakable vow with Vlad."

"That makes a great deal of sense actually, they daren't risk speaking too publicly about being in control of the situation lest they be made to look foolish immediately and so they must strive to look like they are doing their utmost."

Harry grinned around a mouthful of sweetness, ravenous after a hasty breakfast that morning as they were ushered by impatient Aurors to empty Hogwarts enough that almost no security had to stay behind. Granted, had he and Draco not portkeyed back he could have eaten on the train but they wanted to avoid the harassment and stares and questions of where Harry was going for the holidays.

So Harry had to wait an hour for lunch and settle for things that might rot a more human set of teeth. Lucky for him, his saliva contained venom that coated his teeth and dissolved pretty much anything that could try and attack them. It was like dental cheating.

As usual, they started early on homework to free up the rest of the holiday for other pastimes, like studying for OWLs and eating too much chocolate. Harry felt like his brain was about to melt from boredom and lack of challenge as he essentially copied out three pages from the terrible assigned book for DADA class. That reminded him; he could do some lesson idea research while having access to Malfoy library.

The Weasley twins were probably coming up with a whole host of ways to ruin Umbridge's ill-advised teaching career over the holidays themselves. It would be an interesting few months.

"I swear my eyes are going to fall out and make a bid for independence if I don't stop staring at this bullshit book immediately."

Draco threw it away from him, leaning his head back and sighing deeply before dropping his quill. Harry finished the sentence he was writing, then joined him in quitting.

"Shall we go for a fly before dinner?"

"That, my brother from another mother" Draco had been reading Muggle books for Muggle Studies it seemed "is an astounding idea."

The two teens took to the air - Draco in a jumper layered with warming charms, Harry in t-shirt and thin jeans - and took turns shooting the Quaffle before playing with the disappearing snitch. Given that he was now human versus Harry's basilisk-enhanced senses and it was chaser against seeker anyway... Harry soundly thrashed Draco.

"I almost miss being a werewolf. Adjusting to the world in slow motion was strange."

"Any symptoms?"

Draco shook his head, tapping the silver bracelet he still wore.

"Not a flicker. I'm expecting if I ever go for Animagus training it'll have altered my form to wolf, because that's what my magic learnt. But honestly, that's not so bad when I thought I would die young slowly being torn apart by my own DNA."

That made Harry think of Sirius and Remus - they wrote to him at least weekly, but he missed them and they missed him. He ought to ask Vlad if there was a way he could see them when next his boyfriend came home.

Malfoy Manor was as much home to Harry as Hogwarts was now. Maybe even more so as he saw Raven clapping down on the ground seeing he and Draco fly. She was an absolute delight, especially for Harry who had no parents and therefore never really expected siblings, honorary or otherwise. And yet in the space of only about one school year both Harry and Vlad had both become big brothers; he to Raven and Vlad to George.

"Hello little bat" Draco scooped up Raven as she toddled up to his legs "sadly you're too young to fly. And your daddies said no toy brooms until you're five but maybe next year."

Raven didn't understand much, but she giggled along at the scandalised expressions on said 'daddies' faces while Draco held her tight. She turned for attention for Harry, and he realised how she was so comfortable in recognising them despite her young age as she _sniffed_ him before hugging him. Half vampire. It made sense.

"She's really come out of her shell these last few months then?"

Severus nodded, smile quirking at the side of thin lips when he observed Raven's toothy grin.

"Quite. She responded to the oppressive environment instinctively. She is free here."

It truly showed; Raven had been quiet and seemed content to stare at the wall much of the time before. Now she liked to roll around and giggle and play. Harry felt it was a good match to his life with the Dursleys contrasting with life at Hogwarts.

"Masters and young Miss, dinner be ready!"

A house elf squeaked and Raven pointed Harry toward the table where she could get fed, so he supposed he was the one to be carrying her. She went most agreeably into her high chair, where a house elf furnished her with a bib and a bowl of unappealing-looking food probably perfectly suitable for a toddler.

Her manners were pretty good for a one year old, but they were no pureblood table etiquette and Harry wiped splattered potato mush from near him more than once over the course of dinner.

"What's that?"

Draco indicated the pile of books Bertrand was sorting through, having opted to only have blood for his dinner.

"Vlad asked me to prepare him a reading list by Christmas. I am ensuring it's all here."

"For what? I thought he passed all his tests."

Harry frowned in thought.

"Is this about his Chosen One thing?"

"Correct. Vlad is intended as a future Grand High Vampire but allowances for his Hogwarts education were made with regards to his political grooming. He must begin soon, however, to appease the Council and not be out of his depth when he takes the title."

"Does he _have_ to do it?"

Bertrand looked struck by Draco's question, tapping at his book list with his quill.

"I suppose as the most powerful vampire to ever stalk the earth, Vlad can't truly be forced into anything. However, I'm not sure the vampire world as a whole would let him just walk away."

"When?"

Vlad didn't like talking about it much, so Harry posed his short question to Bertrand.

"Officially? When the current Grand High Vampire retires or gets _retired._ Unofficially, when he turns eighteen and his full powers come in."

"He's already pretty powerful."

"Correct. The Chosen One will have powers no man nor beast can ever rival. Just how powerful he'll be is anybodies guess at the moment, but I suspect what he has now is merely an indicator rather than a limit."

"Wow. Don't ever piss off your boyfriend Harry, he might explode."

Severus chided Draco for his language in front of Raven, but the girl was utterly absorbed in smushing up her little bowl of after-dinner ice cream into a gooey mess and didn't seem to notice a thing. Harry thanked the elf who brought him hot chocolate, then stretched out on the sofa and felt his legs try to push out further again. It had been almost a week since he changed last, and Harry missed it.

"Hey, while we have the room, why not show us your form outside? I'm deeply curious and you said your eyes are safe right?"

Draco spotted Harry shifting around, scales itching a little now in anticipation.

"Yeah they are. Samael said it's because I'm part human still. Let's go!"

He wasn't going to turn down such a chance, half tempted to crawl on the floor in preparation for losing his limbs to become an enormous serpent. Bertrand, who had seen Harry's first shift, stayed inside to watch Raven, but Severus eagerly came to observe the change for himself. Harry kicked off his slippers and wiggled bare feet on the grass to familiarise himself with the lack of barrier between skin and nature, then closed his eyes and focused.

"Wow. I mean. Wow. You're huge!"

Harry wanted to answer sarcastically, but nobody spoke parselmouth and so he was resigned to rolling his eyes and hissing. Fingertips calloused by years of cauldron burns and spell work brushed his scales as Severus explored the texture, then came around to stare inti Harry's eyes and fanged mouth as though confirming it were all true.

"Fascinating. May I take samples of your venom to compare to a true Basilisk?"

Harry nodded his huge head, and Severus gently placed a receptacle beneath his fang so Harry could drip venom into it. Samael had said his venom was essentially identical except his couldn't hurt Vlad. Unless Vlad drank from something Harry had already bitten, which was extremely unlikely.

But Severus and Samael saw things differently. There was no telling that Samael's definition of 'identical' was the same as a humans. So Harry was himself a little curious. He slithered along to enjoy the feel of grass, letting out chortling hisses when Draco said his parents would have been horrified he was flattening the lawns.

"Oh Merlin, I needed that."

Harry exclaimed as he laid back on the grass with limbs again, skin still feeling like it would shift and expand again as he adjusted to going from sixty feet to less than six.

"I can't relate to you on that, I hated transforming."

Draco tumbled to the grass next to him, white-blond hair lit up by moonlight he no longer hated.

"That was forced. I was always meant to be like this, it just needed... switching on."

They stayed there a moment longer, but then all attention was diverted to the sudden appearance of flames within the middle of the courtyard. The stone circle that spread out toward several smaller cobbles and lawns and flowerbeds burned golden red, then faded as quickly as it appeared to reveal Vlad.

"What's with the flames?"

Draco quizzed but Harry was too busy launching himself at his boyfriend, ridiculously happy to see him even though it hadn't yet been a full day apart. Vlad was little better, clutching Harry with strength beyond any human but Harry's basilisk-enhanced body took the embrace easily.

"Hey, lovebirds! I asked you a question."

Draco attempted to look put out but he couldn't help smiling as the two reconnected for a minute, absorbing the senses of scent and magic familiarity.

"The flames? I was testing out my phoenix apparition powers. Haven't worked out how to turn out the lights on it yet."

Vlad answered, not taking his eyes off Harry all the while. That intense blue stare made Harry shiver slightly.

"Where's Ingrid?"

"Hunting. She doesn't get much chance to leave Hogwarts grounds and go hunting for wild game, plus it keeps our vampire teacher guy from snacking on a first year."

Draco didn't seem to take it personally that Vlad didn't look at him. At least he wasn't ignoring him.

"Oh right, they want to teach you to apparate."

Vlad seemed capable already, but Harry supposed classes wouldn't hurt. Plus Ingrid could still learn.

"Yep."

Cool fingers twined with Harry's own as they walked in to the Manor, though Vlad spared a moment for little Raven who was happy to see the only other half-human vampire they knew of. She was getting sleepy but had a smile for Vlad first, then started huffing to go back to her fathers arms.

"I think it's time for bed little one. I'll not be long."

Bertrand took off to put Raven down for the night, and Vlad sat both next to Harry and his ascribed reading list from Bertrand.

"OWLs and Voldemort not enough for you, you need more work?"

Vlad shrugged, running pale fingers down the thick, cracked leather spines of a couple.

"The alternative is to not be prepared when the time comes. Which is incredibly dangerous."

"True. I'm supposed to be doing this head-of-family training in all honesty, but being Lord Malfoy sounds so incredibly tiresome."

Draco waved offhandedly, sipping at hot chocolate with a drop of Firewhiskey added; it was the holidays and had he been raised by his parents continually, Draco would have been drinking wine regularly by then.

Plus there was _more_ Firewhiskey imbibed over term time, but _that_ stayed within the Gryffindor dormitory.

"I see your Lord Malfoy and I raise you future Count Dracula. The number one vampire story to make it to the rest of the world and this" Vlad gestured to himself "blood hating, half human and half reluctant biter is the future of it."

Harry felt good about his own family history not meaning any 'Lord Potter' thing happening. Though he would trade that all off to have his parents back... his mind drifted to the Resurrection Stone wrapped up and in a lockbox in his trunk. Maybe he would see them again for Christmas.

"Harry? Want to declare you'll be future Minister for Magic or something?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Harry shook his head.

"Merlin, no. Somebody might notice me getting angry and turning into a huge lizard. Plus I hate politics... and I would never be elected on merit. I would be chosen on being me."

Harry had no intentions of running anything... he wasn't totally sure what he intended to do with his life any more either. He had been mostly set on being an Auror, but seeing the corruption and nonsense within the Ministry and the attitude of some of the other Aurors, he wasn't really keen anymore.

"Are you staying the night?"

Vlad nodded.

"I'll probably head back before dawn, give Umbridge a morning fright of some variety."

Harry grinned.

"Let me. I can change in a hallway, scare her witless and she'll never be able to say it was me cus I'm away for the holidays."

Vlad's eyes lit up.

"Sounds like a good plan. However, I think Draco here is starting to fall asleep. Lightweight."

The blond glared over his near-empty mug, but Harry saw a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Oh do excuse me and my human constitution."

"You are excused."

Vlad stayed up to chat to Bertrand about his book list for only ten minutes, shrank down and put the books in his pocket before following Harry up to his bedroom. Given that Vlad's feelings responded to Harry's, it was no real surprise to either teen when they landed on the bed, kissing and fumbling to remove cumbersome clothes.

His boyfriend was heated tonight, the vampire in him showing through widening cracks of a calm facade when Vlad pinned him down and inhaled at his neck, teething lightly at the juncture and Harry was pretty sure his knees would have given out were he not already horizontal. Vlad ground their hips together roughly, the hot weight of his cock through his jeans enough to make Harry buck up for more.

Not to be outdone, Harry switched them over and used his bulk to hold Vlad in place; until he transformed Harry was _physically_ stronger at least. The vampire thrashed and growled, nails digging against the scale-hardened skin of Harry's shoulders when he bit Vlad again. Whether the venom in his bite felt erotic or Vlad just got off on the whole thing Harry couldn't say, but his boyfriends responses were feral, more animal than he had ever seen tonight.

Harry wouldn't have been surprised to see Vlad had sprouted fangs months early at that point, hungry touches tugging open his jeans to grope at his cock and tear choked moans from Harry's throat.

"What's with you tonight?"

Vlad faltered, obviously worried he was pushing his mate too far but Harry bucked against his hand in reassurance, pulsing when Vlad resumed stroking him perfectly despite an awkward angle.

"My instincts are getting more demanding with my transformation closing in."

Trying to think straight when Vlad knew _exactly_ how Harry liked to be touched and feeling his brain turn to mush, he had an idea what Vlad meant.

"You mean..."

"Yeah. But you know that ultimately the bond responds to you and what you want."

Harry couldn't exactly deny he was increasingly eager to 'mate' with the vampire, but he also knew it was a much bigger deal for Vlad than it was him. He'd been holding back on the basis of not wanting to be unsure... but as Vlad twisted his wrist _just so_ and Harry almost came there and then, he realised.

He hadn't been unsure about Vlad since the first time they kissed.

"You want to?"

Vlad's hand stilled and Harry couldn't help but complain, thrusting against the cool grip as he was _so close..._

"Really?"

Harry nodded, leaking messily onto Vlad's hand and bare stomach as his arousal burned hotter still. Vlad's hand left his cock and the swollen flesh protested, hungering for the final push to climax it was denied. Need made them frantic as shaking hands removed their bottoms; Vlad was self conscious of his nudity still, curled inward slightly but Harry pinned him with his legs to cease it.

"I will tell you every day for all of eternity if it'll make you listen - I _want_ to see you."

Seeking to distract him, Harry leant down and kissed Vlad deeply, thoroughly before realising they had yet to talk logistics.

"Is there a.. I don't know, specific way you need to do this?"

If he was totally honest, Harry was far more nervous about the prospect of Vlad wanting or maybe even _needing_ to be the one on top at first. Clearly sensing his reticence, Vlad ran soft fingers over Harry's angular jaw.

"I'd never do something you weren't ready for. It would be pointless anyway, all I'd feel is your anxiety."

Soothed, Harry felt his concerns leech away as Vlad leant up and kissed him again, hand slipping into his hair to stroke at his scalp. The vampire seemed to have calmed in response to Harry's concerns, but the promise of impending satisfaction seemed to fire him up again and soon he was rutting up against Harry, growling in need whenever Harry touched him.

It was surreal to have someone who almost seemed to exist solely to be what Harry needed, to respond in all the right ways on an instinctual level.

All the same, Harry was dizzy with the arousal of Vlad's primal actions, biting at his lip and clutching at the muscles of his lower back, curling his arms and legs around Harry with begging, pleading sounds. His desperation was blatant, intoxicating and threatened Harry's stamina terribly until he had to grip Vlad's hips and pin him down rather forcefully. The vampire bucked and growled again, dissatisfied.

"Calm. I don't want you hurting yourself."

Responding instantly, Vlad's heavy trembling became fine tremors and he placed his hands either side, pliant, waiting. There was a degree of common sense to the act itself, but that hadn't stopped Harry from doing a little investigating in the Hospital library at slow times in Healing class. He knew they needed some kind of artificial lubricant, but again Vlad was one step ahead of him and Harry felt some kind of magic happen.

"What was that?"

"Magic."

He rolled his eyes, a little disappointed Vlad had bypassed preparation. Somehow reading it in his face, Vlad rolled his hips up into Harry.

"If you want to do it properly next time you can but I don't think either of us can last that long right now."

Vlad raised many good points; this was their first time, not their only time and his cock was aching, throbbing with the promise of the willing body before him. His lover seemed to be faring little better, erection laid heavy on his stomach as he reached for Harry. He was a little clumsy with excitement, there was no denying but Vlad moved like liquid, fluid and lithe until their bodies met in the right way at last.

 _Something_ seemed to wrap around Harry's body as they came flush, magic responding to each other in a way he hadn't felt before. Vlad was incoherent already, muscles shaking, the lines of his neck standing out against pale skin and there was a steady stream of incoherent noises falling from parted lips. The grip of his body on Harry's cock was so tight it was almost painful, threatening to cut short what little resistance Harry had already.

"Vlad?"

Merlin, his voice was strained. Harry felt like he could transform at any minute, the pure exhilaration and breaking free the only comparison he could think to make.

"Fuck, move!"

Any doubts Harry had were immediately assuaged, further compounded by Vlad's writhing and rocking to try and urge Harry's movement. The motions weren't too different than when they frotted against each other, Vlad's legs clamping tight around his hips to improve the angle for the vampire thrashing on the bed.

Words were beyond them both by that point, Vlad's body moulding to him perfectly on every thrust and filling Harry with molten heat as the silken vice made for exquisite friction on his hyper-sensitive erection. It wasn't a conscious decision, but Harry still felt both their Occlumency shields fall in the intimate embrace. Vlad's mind reached out to his, sharing the sheer _onslaught_ of magic and pleasure and rightness coursing through Vlad's entire body as he connected with his mate at long last.

The _sounds_ Vlad made were near delirious, high and low and soft and rough in intermittent bursts as Harry let the surging thrusts carry him toward the zenith. He saw Vlad curl upward, felt wet splatter up against his torso as teeth sank into his shoulder, fingers clutching his back as the muscles gripping him spasmed and tightened further. Vlad made the sweetest, most utterly satisfied sound when Harry came inside him, not letting go of his boyfriend for several minutes until the racing magic around them finally began to calm.

"Blimey. If that's how intense it is for just _one_ vampire..."

Vlad chuckled lightly, pulling Harry with him as he finally laid down.

"Magic probably made a difference. Plus most people don't drop their mind barriers first time and by the time they've reached that point there's probably some adjustment."

Harry couldn't possibly imagine _adjusting_ to the earth-shattering fire that had just burned him from the inside out. Not that he would mind trying. Vlad stretched leisurely across the bed, clearly less self conscious post-coitus, and the distinct smell of a healing charm filled the air.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No! Just a tad sore, but I wasn't ready to say we're done yet. Dawn's a long time away."

As if knowing Harry wanted to take his time more now their initial urgency had been tended to, Vlad managed to conjure/summon a jar that Harry had a good idea on the contents of. As his boyfriend had said...

Dawn was a while away.

-YDHP-

 **I am so out of practice at slash I should go write some Chosen One Shots or something. Still, hopefully that wasn't disappointing. For Vlad I'm sure it was as though Christmas had come early.**


	23. Building Bonds

**Not guaranteeing I'll be back in a week with a new chapter just yet! But in my gratitude for your patience and understanding (and the obvious fortuitous timing), here is a Christmas chapter for you all!**

 **With some Christmas feels and not much else.**

-YDHP-

Harry woke up to Vlad shaking him, looking extremely distraught for Christmas morning.

"I gotta go. It'll look really suspicious if I'm not there for breakfast."

Pouting, Harry leaned up and kissed his boyfriend before pushing himself into a seated position. Vlad's fingers ran down over his back muscles, prompting him to arch and twist in an apparently snake-like manner.

"You keep that up and I won't _let_ you leave."

Vlad whimpered; ever since they started, Harry and Vlad had been hard pushed to stop having sex. Vlad responded to him so intensely, so perfectly. He looked incredible writhing beneath Harry...

"Harry, stop!"

He looked over to see Vlad squirming, sweat on flushed skin - he was suffering Harry's arousal as much as his own. Harry did his best to tamp down on his raging hormones, reminding himself Vlad would be back later.

"You better had go. When will you be back?"

"A little after Christmas lunch, I've disappeared for dinner before when losing track of time studying and Christmas food is always ridiculously decadent.

"Nerd."

His boyfriend shrugged, then visibly worked to try and control his want for Harry.

"The Weasleys, Giles and Hermione's family are coming over tomorrow, so you and Draco can spend Christmas day with Raven and her dads."

Harry nodded to show he understood, absorbing the sight of his boyfriend before he left that day. Vlad yawned slightly, slinking his way under Harry's arm to cuddle him before getting up with a reluctant groan.

"Least the dorm will be empty."

He left with only a hint of reddish light to signal his phoenix-apparition. Apparently Ingrid had taken to Apparating quite quickly herself, so Vlad no longer felt guilty for his not-magical-vampire skill. Ingrid couldn't pass through wards and enchantments like Vlad could, but she'd managed from the Chamber to Malfoy Manor and back again without breaking a sweat only yesterday.

Lily slithered out of her tank, hissing idle digs about the 'excess of humans mating' but wrapping herself around Harry's arm all the same. Harry rubbed her annoying little scaled self, glad that while Draco and he were excited for Christmas, without the Weasleys sleeping over there was no five thirty in the morning wakeup call courtesy of the twins.

It was important Raven get her morning sleep, else she'd spend Christmas day cranky. Not much made the halfling bundle of joy grizzle, but she was teething and liked her rest.

Knowing he'd not get anymore sleep, Harry dropped down into his trunk with Lily still on his arm. Samael shifted as soon as Harry landed, big head poking out of his heated room.

"Merry Christmas Samael."

"I have no concept of human holidays."

"I know, but it's a term of well wishing to say it. So hush and accept my seasons greetings."

"If you say so wizard."

Despite his grumbling, Samael was as affectionate as ever and nuzzled Harry's broad chest with his big snout. Harry wondered if there was a Santa hat big enough for a Basilisk. Not that he thought he'd convince his familiar into it if there was.

"You smell like your vampire."

Harry felt his cheeks heat slightly, remembering how Vlad had been all over him and he'd not yet showered. He had better before going to breakfast, else he would be getting all sorts of knowing looks from Bertrand and possibly confusing Raven, as she identified them all by scent.

"Not really surprising."

"Ah, yes. Your previously high-held concerns of discord when it came to mating the vampire."

Harry glared; it was futile against a Basilisk but made him feel better. Well, not really.

"It may surprise you to know that _humans_ do on occasion struggle with their sexuality. Vlad has built in biological acceptance of his because I'm his mate and that's just what happened. I had to get there on my own. And I did."

Samael rolled his eyes.

"Neither of you are _human._ "

"We're both half human. Or _part_ human I suppose is the right term, I doubt its a perfect 50/50."

Harry left soon after with promises to return later, in need of a shower before he was presentable to others in the Manor. He had healing bite bruises on his shoulder; Vlad bit him when he came more often than not. It was probably a vamp thing. He kinda liked it. He wondered if it would change when Vlad did, when there were fangs involved. Samael said Vlad's bite wouldn't cause him any real damage - he couldn't be turned.

"Morning! _You_ are not wearing last years Weasley jumper."

Draco was, but Harry had had irreconcilable differences with the woollen creation earlier.

"Because it doesn't fit! If I grow any more Mrs Weasley will have to make me a Weasley marquee for a jumper."

Draco was in his usual festive cheer mood, smiling over gingerbread coffee and the Malfoy elves special breakfasts of far too much food. Harry took one of the flavoured drinks, piled his plate and started while they waited for Raven and her fathers to come down. It didn't take long, and while Raven was too young to understand Christmas she was definitely still excited by the mood around her.

"Hi!"

She tottered over in a black-and-red elf dress (Harry wasn't sure who picked it and who was being appeased by the colours), holding her arms up to Harry for pick her up, then squeeze him tight before going in search of Draco. It was impossible not to enjoy her company, she was such a vibrant little girl.

"If either of you have given my daughter excessive gifts I will give you detention."

"You haven't been our teacher for over a year."

"Try me."

Harry and Draco shared grins - they hadn't gone overboard, there wasn't much point until Raven was old enough to understand actually being spoiled. _Then_ they could go overboard. It was their job as her big brothers.

"We promise."

Severus eyed them suspiciously, but picked up a mug of coffee and sniffed at it with some trepidation.

"It's pretty good. And its coffee."

Draco assured him, despite his own mug being forgotten as he tickled a giggling Raven into hysterics while Bertrand took his goblet of blood from the elf nearest. Once he was fed, he would tend to his daughter; as the only one who didn't have a physical requirement to eat actual food. Vampires could live on blood alone, and didn't digest food the way humans did. It was either for pleasure or for grandeur mostly.

Although he supposed for vamps like Bertrand at Hogwarts, assimilation was probably a point too. Never eating or being absent at all mealtimes would have made him incredibly suspect.

After a hearty breakfast, they moved to sit around the fireplace, child-proof spell a shimmering blue bubble around it to ensure Raven didn't get too close with little hands and her quick feet. Severus had been absent last Christmas, and at first he was quite stiff, reserved, out of place almost as Raven sat on his knee wrestling with some flying snitch wrapping paper... Harry couldn't help it, moving pictures on wrapping paper would probably never lose its novelty.

But as they exchanged gifts - Harry gave Severus snake-donated Potion ingredients that couldn't exactly be found elsewhere - and ate sweet treats all morning, Severus began to relax. Raven's squealing joy probably helped; it was impossible not to smile when she laughed.

Lunch wasn't as exuberant as it would be tomorrow, or even as it would have been at Hogwarts, but it was family and food and their first Christmas with Raven. Harry hoped that by the time she was old enough to appreciate it fully, she wouldn't have to be so hidden away. Granted, for the time being at least her halfling status was to be a secret, but Harry suspected Vlad would change that some way.

He _had_ to, really. To not be illegal himself. Since Vlad was as much a 'half breed' as Raven.

"When's Vlad coming back to stare longingly at you whenever you move more than six inches from his side?"

"Shut up."

Draco wriggled up close and rolled his head against Harry's arm, face clearly saying 'you can't get rid of me'.

"Hey, I figure it's normal. Since you two have obviously..."

"Merlin, be quiet! What makes you say that?"

His brother continued to grin, knowing he was superbly correct in his assumptions.

"You two are kinda humming with magic. I asked Bertrand and he said thats normal for a completed bond, and that it'll calm down. Hopefully before Vlad has to go back to the big bad guy, in case anyone there recognises what it means."

Harry frowned, not wanting Voldemort involved in their sex life. It was bad enough he marked Vlad's skin with that ugly brand.

"They think he has a vampire girlfriend. It'll have to do as a cover story if someone does notice, and it'll be quite a surprise if they _found_ his female lover to be honest."

Draco nodded, fiddling with the new cufflinks in his shirt - a cauldron and a bat, symbolic of his 'parents' as his sixteenth birthday approached. Soon, Draco would be officially head of the Malfoy name. Unless Lucius came back somehow, which was unlikely between Azkaban for trying to kill Harry and any escape meaning he would be back at the beck and call of a mad man.

"Well, quite, given that she doesn't exist. His thing with Krum was public knowledge, Merlin it made the papers. How did he sell heterosexuality?"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at such a blunt question.

"I _think_ he said to them that vampires are encouraged to get such 'impulses' out of the way before adulthood. Not that they are against homosexuality on the whole, but obviously there's a sort of assumption there will be a wife and heirs at some point."

"Ah, youthful folly. Makes sense I guess. Except where Vlad is never going to have a wife."

Harry shrugged, dislodging his irritating sibling. It wasn't something he dwelled on often.

"I know, although a realistic part of me is aware that given who he is and what he'll become, Vlad is probably going to have to father a child in some way in the future."

Draco clicked his tongue as he thought about it, tugging a loose strand on his jumper sleeve. Something his father would have whacked his walking stick across the back of the boys hand for had he seen, Draco said, but he had always loathed stray fibres.

"I mean, there are ways _around_ his lack of want for anyone but you... I think the harder part would be finding a vampiress who is willing to serve as his incubator that Vlad can trust not to use it against him for blackmail and so on. Anyway, you are both not yet sixteen. Fatherhood woes are many moons away yet."

Many moons was a small way to describe Harry and Vlad's immortality.

"True."

An hour and a half after lunch, a flickering flame and a sharp _crack!_ sound signalled the arrival of vampire and vampire. Vlad's eyes immediately found his, smiling like it had been days rather than hours since they last saw each other.

Raven charged over to them, fresh from her nap and full of energy to clamber all over a chuckling Vlad. She even reached out to Ingrid, who was visibly at a loss with what to do with a child. Or perhaps it was trying not to appear upset by the product of her mates relationship with somebody else. Either way, Vlad retrieved the girl as soon it wouldn't be too obvious why, then reached into his pocket and handed Raven a wrapped gift that made her cheer - before she even opened it.

"What did you get her?"

"It's a necklace. The chain is charmed to grow with her, and the runes carved into it are for protection. Plus it contains silver, so it ought to help spot any werewolves... if for some reason that becomes a problem" Vlad side-glanced to Draco "I'll remake it."

Raven touched it with a smile as Bertrand placed it around her neck, clapping little hands together happily as her fathers looked to Vlad.

"Thank you."

Harry looked at his own necklace, one of many Vlad had made with portkeys, then grinned at his boyfriend.

"Do you have a future in magical jewellery?"

"I'm immortal. I'll need a hobby. Plus, I was helping the twins with something for their joke products that inspired me."

Severus immediately eyed Vlad suspiciously, as though Vlad would _ever_ put Raven in harms way with a joke product for an infant.

"Which was?"

"Shield hats. And cloaks. They are meant to be joke products, trick your friend into sending a hex and it bounces back. They tried with just spells but they only lasted one use, I suggested using runes to hold the spell and gave it a try with the necklace. Fred and George were most agreeable in hexing me to test them out. Of course, those runes are _much_ stronger than what the twins make."

Ingrid promptly sequestered away until dinner in the Potions lab, where she had much more freedom than the Hogwarts one to brew what she liked and not worry about ingredients lying about or mislabelled - it was a close call who was more strict about organisation in there, Ingrid or Severus.

The rest of them lazed around the fire, mostly watching an entertaining Raven roll around with Christmas gifts or chase Phantom, who would frequently stop and gently paw at the girls face. Luckily, Raven was mindful or perhaps just gentle-handed enough not to get rough with the magical creature.

Harry wasn't yet bored of holding hands with Vlad, and the vampire was perfectly happy to do everything left-handed to keep it that way. Not that he had much to do other than lift hot chocolate or sweets to his mouth, but Harry appreciated the gesture all the same.

"Excited to see your mom again?"

Vlad beamed, nodding excitedly.

"Definitely. I can't wait until everything is safe again, and obviously Hogwarts is done so I can see her more. We barely found each other only to be stuck being apart so much."

Harry had to remember that wasn't a slight to him; Vlad knew better than anybody that defeating Voldemort wasn't as simple as just walking up and killing him. Or Vlad probably would have already done it to protect Harry.

Not that Harry _expected_ Vlad to fight his battles for him, but the vampire just sort of did it anyway whenever he could. That was such a fact Dumbledore had gone to Vlad to do what Voldemort wanted Harry to do. The expectation that Vlad would stain his own soul to spare Harry's was a little frightening.

"It won't be forever."

Vlad chuckled.

"It can't be. Raven has to go to Hogwarts. Not that Riddle will still be around in ten years, but with any luck she'll never really know the way the world was when she was only small."

Raven meant a great deal to all of them, but she was a symbol to Vlad in a unique way. Proof of human and vampires being capable of coexistence, rather than himself being a freak quirk. She was innocent and happy, pulled from the depths of darkness before she could understand where she was. She was the embodiment of everything Vlad sought to protect, now and in the future.

"I have every faith in us against him."

He squeezed Vlad's hand, watched his boyfriend relax instinctively. _That_ would never get old.

"Glad to hear it."

They shared Christmas dinner before separating for the evening - Vlad had to pop back over to Hogwarts and show his face, walking to and from the library to say he had gotten lost in homework and check his absence had not really been suspect.

Then he was back, found Harry sat on his bed staring at a small black object.

"You want to see them for Christmas?"

Harry nodded, staring at the scratched surface of the Stone resting in the palm of his shaking hand. Vlad sat his other side, took Harry's free hand in his.

"Then do it. I'm certain they would love to see you."

-YDHP-

 **With any luck, I'll be back on track soon.**


	24. Frayed Silver

**Again, I thank you all for your endless patience with your erratic author. Let's hope this is me back on form.**

-YDHP-

Christmas felt like a distant memory despite only being days ago, Vlad's stomach feeling full of ice as he sat in the Death Eater meeting. Meeting was a strong word; mostly it was excessive indulgence and loud, drunken discussions of their plans for the year. Vlad listened avidly, discarding the 'plans' that were clearly a product of Firewhiskey chased by Villains-Vodka.

The Death Chompers were clearly getting bored, chafing at the restrictions placed by their psychotic boss as _he_ waited for Vlad's vow to stop constricting his magic. Honestly, somebody should have come up with this sooner.

"I'll challenge ya here an' now!"

"Ye couldn' duel yer way outta a barrel o' jellied eels!"

For the supposed pinnacles of evil they were, their drunken insults were rather reminiscent of arguing First Years at Hogwarts. But... if they wanted to wipe each other out, Vlad wasn't going to stop them.

"Bellatrix dear, do be quiet."

Vlad cringed as he said it, but it was the fastest way to get everyones attention - nobody else _dared_ speak to her that way except Riddle.

"You arrogant little-"

"Hush. Those two are about to demonstrate why you shouldn't drink and duel, your blathering about Muggle children was interrupting."

He felt Riddle's eyes on them as Vlad irritated one of the highest up of his ranks, but many peoples attentions turned to where Cooper and Scrag (Vlad assumed that was a nickname, but he hadn't wanted to ask) were squaring up. Cooper still had a Firewhiskey in hand, the tumbler tilting precariously in his non-wand hand. Well, Vlad assumed that was the case.

Raising his own flask to his mouth, Vlad sipped at untainted pumpkin juice - there was a reason he didn't accept any of the drinks offered. Cooper threw the last of his drink in the direction of his mouth, mostly successful even if some ended up splashed on his black robes. Most of them were in the black garb, giving the 'festivities' a sombre feel. Most vampires would feel right at home.

"I'll kill ya!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Watching closely - Vlad was curious about the effect of excessive consumption of alcohol on magic - he quickly surmised that despite intoxication, Scrag wasn't a _bad_ duellist. He didn't attack outright constantly, exhausting his magic but played safer, parried and cast soundlessly. Of course, his aim was awful and Cooper was brutal, slashing through the air so even when he mostly missed, great cutting gashes caught an arm or shoulder.

Heart rates slowing, nobody seemed in any hurry to offer medical aid to their fallen comrades as they bled and twitched on the ground. Vlad had seen them both jeer at captured muggles. He was in no hurry himself. Neither appeared to have won, so Vlad turned away and saw Bellatrix eyeing him like she absolutely intended to kill him any minute now.

"Well, what did you think Vladimir?"

Riddle quizzed, and so the returning hum of conversation silenced itself instantly.

"I just worked out why so many of these idiots _suck_ at duelling."

There was a current of outrage, though nobody dared actually speak out until their master said so.

"Oh? Do tell."

Tracing one pale finger in circled around the arm of his throne, Riddle's narrow eyes were cool and calculating as they gazed upon the teen vampire.

"They only fight to the death."

"Yes? It makes for a good bloodsport."

Vlad shook his head, sipping his juice and tightening the cap pointedly slow to keep everyone waiting.

"Perhaps. **But** it means they don't practice. The ones that practice without death the imminent outcome are much better than..." Vlad gestured off-handedly to the dying drinks " _that._ "

Before Riddle could answer him, another voice cut in.

"My Lord, if I may?"

"Speak, Bellatrix."

"If this parasitic whelp" that was a new one " is so certain he's _superior_ at duelling, I would be only too happy to prove him wrong."

Lacking many of the characteristics that gave one actual facial expressions made it hard to read more than cold fury in the reptilian face, but Riddle eventually smirked in a highly unsettling manner.

"An excellent idea. Nothing fatal though Bella, perhaps the 'whelp' has a point about practice. To sharpen skills without depleting my numbers."

Vlad highly doubted Bellatrix knew much that wouldn't cause fatal or at least lasting harm, but her rotten smile flashed in Vlad's direvtuon as she stood, brandishing her wand. Everyone began to step back, so Vlad slipped his wand from its holster. It didn't seem he had a choice.

They circled each other widely for a minute, sizing the other up. She was taller than he by an inch or two, and with messy curls cascading down her back and a ripped dress barely covering her skin in places, Bellatrix definitely had the more wrecked appearance. Her eyes flashed with what he could only call madness, wondering what made _her_ so different. Tonks' mother Andromeda was much sweeter, he knew, and Narcissa was mouthy and cruel but rarely violent in his experience.

Yet Bellatrix was psychotic. Perhaps her father had a favourite. It would explain her obsession with a man who cared nothing for her wellbeing, only her compulsive devotion. Clearly accomplished at silent spell casting, Vlad barely sidestepped the fiery branding charm that flew at him. He had enough scars.

The minute he focused on her properly timed with a fluctuation in his vampiric senses, a sign of his transformation barely six months away. Flicking his wand in an ineffectual manner, Vlad held up a hand as Bellatrix froze to the spot under his silent petrification jinx. Several onlookers protested, one even raising a wand to aid.

"Wait! I can't attack her."

"Why not?"

"She's pregnant. It's a vampire thing. We can't harm a carrier."

A collective gasp ran the length of the room, though several clearly thought him lying to avoid a superior duellist trouncing him.

"Why not?"

"Evolution, moron. If we killed them while they carried we would wipe our own food source out. Even if they survived the drinking, the turning process would terminate their pregnancy."

Riddle was watching closely, and Vlad had more than a small suspicion Bellatrix's husband was _not_ that childs father. Lucifer, those two together, contributing genes _and_ upbringing... that child may as well be the Anti Christ.

"You're certain?"

Certain his charm held, at least, Vlad crossed the impromptu duelling circle and sniffed at Bellatrix properly. Hellfire, she needed a bath or ten. But the deterrent stench of pregnancy overpowered even filth and blood, harsher on the aftertaste that cloyed his senses.

"Two months along. Probably a boy. Have your potioneer check if you don't believe me."

Vlad plucked Bellatrix's wand from her frozen hand before crossing back to his spot to unfreeze her. She would have heard everything, and still her hand thrust forward as if she held her wand. Her magic was too wild for her to wield that way though, and nothing happened.

"I'll give you this back" her wand was a vile thing to look at, curved almost like it originally intended to be a blade "if you promise to behave yourself and go have your pregnancy confirmed. If I'm _wrong,_ we'll continue. If I'm right, you're welcome to choose anybody else you think can best this 'parasitic whelp'."

She looked to Riddle, who nodded his agreement. Bellatrix held out a hand with filthy, clawed nails, which Vlad tossed her wand to. It let itself be guided back to masters hand, and she stalked off in the direction of the trapped Potions master, Slughorn. Vlad made a note to look in on him before he left, check the man was still (relatively) unharmed in his position. Many in the room looked stunned into inarticulate silences, while Riddle stood and began circling Vlad himself.

"How uniquely useful you are to have around, Vladimir. Perhaps you should terminate your conventional education and be taught here, rather than Hogwarts."

"You do that" he suppressed a shudder each time Riddle passed his turned back "and there will be nobody to turn Harry Potter."

"I could simply order you to kill him."

"Harry? Or the old coot?"

"Potter, of course."

"Never gonna happen. I'll end you myself first."

There went the gasps again; Death Eaters wouldn't dare look cross-eyed at 'their Lord' while Vlad enjoyed irritating him. It was feigned, but Riddle forced out a chuckle as though it were friendly banter they exchanged.

"Ah, the petulance of youth. You'll learn, young Dracula."

The assembled followers relaxed a touch, and Riddle pointed with his wand toward the way Bellatrix had gone.

"Shall we?"

"If we must."

Vlad had intended to visit Slughorn anyway. An invitation only made it easier.

The winding stairs to the lab reeked of Bellatrix still, telling that she'd indeed gone where he suggested. Slughorn was shaking slightly as she picked her nails with a knife, waiting for the requisite potions to be ready; pregnancy _could_ be determined by spell, but the spell carried risk of damage to the feotus as the baby developed its own magic slowly. So potions were more readily used.

Their arrival didn't exactly help Slughorn's tension and he mopped sweat from a wet brow, shoving the hanky back in his pocket before using each stirring ladle to dispense two separate potions into metallic goblets.

"Pregnancy detector. Sex d-determination."

Naturally, they _had_ to know the sex. Vlad restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Riddle would obviously want a boy; he favoured male followers by far. Came from a long line of 'women are objects/housewives' and had openly offered Bellatrix as an unwilling partner to Vlad. With any luck, that wouldn't happen again as the potions returned results.

"P-positive. Male. Eight week foetal development."

The leering smirk that stretched Riddle's face was enough to make Vlad's stomach roll. Bellatrix seemed surprised; Vlad could sympathise somewhat. He hadn't expected Riddle to be _human_ enough to breed, body held together with dark magic and sheer spite.

"I think, perhaps, I have a job for you Vladimir."

Vlad raised an eyebrow, standing neatly between Riddle and Slughorn so the man could clean up his workstation without fear of curses.

 _"Stop_ calling me that. And... it really depends what you want."

"Eliminate her husband. Bella shall select him to duel in her stead when we return upstairs."

That didn't really surprise him as a request.

"What of his brother? Rabastan is blood-loyal to a fault and I don't really want him following me around trying to kill me."

The Lestrange's had been some of the few to actually _look_ for Riddle before, and Bellatrix was sycophantic and obsessed with the madman still. So Rodolphus had to actively represent a threat for Riddle to have him killed in front of everyone upstairs. As Bellatrix's cuckolded husband, that was probably possible.

"Rabastan will not go against me. Should he try, you may exert whatever means necessary to punish his transgression."

Code for if he tries, kill him but otherwise leave one of the few truly loyal alone. Riddle didn't actually value their life. Just their service.

"If you say so. Just get me away from her until she's spat out the spawn."

Bellatrix scowled, but now she knew she was having her insane boss/lovers child, she seemed oddly mellowed by it. As though she was more than the captive incubator Vlad and Riddle both knew she was.

They ascended the stairs as a trio, though Vlad was hugely unhappy about letting them walk behind him it was an interesting visual for him to enter the room as head of the party. Nobody had really moved, though they'd obviously continued drinking.

"Bella, choose your replacement."

Vlad returned to his 'spot', sipping juice and attempting to look bored. He knew he couldn't get away with avoiding killing forever, and given the choice between innocent and the murderers in this room, he knew which he'd choose. But that didn't make it easy to accept he belonged to a heritage of killing going back three millenia, or that when he let the vampire side rule, killing Rodolphus didn't seem so bad.

Bellatrix gave the impression of thinking hard about her choice. Some subtly stepped forward, itching for the chance to attack Vlad. Others hung back, perhaps sensing the danger in the air.

"Who better? My love. Rodolphus."

Outwardly, Rodolphus appeared cocky and arrogant. Relaxed, even. But he wasn't as stupid as he was cruel. As Rodolphus pulled his wand and took the expected spot opposite Vlad, he threw side-eyed looks to Riddle and Bellatrix. He knew he wasn't supposed to come out alive. Taking a deep breath as many began to watch hungrily, Vlad raised his wand.

"You first."

* * *

Harry always knew when Vlad had had a bad time of it, playing the role of a double agent. He came back at two in the morning, using 'his' room to shower and change before crawling into bed next to Harry, shaking.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Rodolphus Lestrange is dead."

That hollow voice was very specific, meant Vlad had at least been involved in the demise.

"Which ones he? The brother or the one married to Bellatrix?"

"Married. Of course, to a woman pregnant by Riddle. Couldn't have him arguing about whether or not its his."

Harry's eyes widened; how was that even possible?

"I'm surprised he _could,_ after all he's not even really alive anymore."

"Yeah, I thought similar. He made me kill Rodolphus to get him out the way."

The vampire couldn't resist the lure of his mate's comfort, curling into Harry's chest.

"I wouldn't feel too bad. He was one of the ones who tortured Neville's parents."

Vlad nodded solemnly, shoving his wand on the bedside table as though he didn't want to touch it right now. Harry ran fingers through his boyfriends fine, straight hair and Vlad instantly relaxed a bit, shuffled closer for more petting.

"Just not how I wanted to go back to Hogwarts."

The new term began in only two days.

"I know, but he deserved it really."

It wasn't an attitude he wanted to adopt, but ultimately deaths were an unfortunate yet unavoidable part of the war they were in. Vlad, mentally and physically drained, fell asleep against Harry quite soon after. Harry didn't sleep much himself, watching the youthful face tense even in slumber as Vlad carried weight he shouldn't. Like guilt; the deaths of Fenrir Greyback and Rodolphus Lestrange were not losses to the world.

Nor were the others Vlad occasionally took part in as a part of his appeared assimilation with Riddle.

Harry wasn't completely free of death himself - Quirrel and Karkaroff to name but two. And people had died _because_ of him too, starting way back at his own parents. Neither he or Vlad were going to escape with their souls unchanged, he knew, but Vlad would destroy himself before he let Harry be darkened by it.

They hadn't yet agreed on what to do with Dumbledore. Vlad was adamant about doing it for Harry, but they mightn't even need to actually bother as the headmaster was dying anyway. At worst, it would be ending it on his own terms without the risk of the task turning to someone who took great pleasure in the torment before the death.

But it was still a kill. If murder split Riddle's soul when he had no reverence for human life whatsoever, even a mercy killing had to affect the hand dealing it.

Vlad left early, still somewhat sombre but apparently reaching some acceptance for what he had had to do. Harry got up, washed and dressed and started packing for the return to Hogwarts the following day. He and Draco spent their morning flying for fun, the afternoon playing with Raven who was an endless source of joy for all involved. Harry would miss her terribly when back at school.

"You be the best little terror you can be while we're gone, yes? I want lots of stories from your dads about how much you keep them on their toes."

"Please abstain from corrupting my daughter at such a young age."

"So we should wait until she's older?"

Severus glared, but as someone who spent their time with Dracula's, Harry wasn't really affected. Nevertheless, he and Draco laughed hysterically as Raven started feeding her yogurt to Phantom, who came right up to lick the little toddler spoon. She too was immune to Severus glares, but Bertrand shooed the familiar away and finished feeding Raven with a clean spoon.

As they sat drinking hot chocolate that evening, Harry watched Draco scratching absently at his wrist. It took him a minute to register the irritation showing there, skin reddened and starting to crack in places. Bertrand noticed when he drew blood, grabbing Draco roughly to stop the scratching and sniffing at the offending wrist - the one Draco still wore a silver bracelet on.

The bracelet he wore to ensure his lycanthropy had stayed cured. The same cure given to Remus, and to dozens more wolves as Vlad kept curing them on the sly and frustrating Riddle as he lost track of what should have been his pack of animals.

"What day is the full moon?"

-YDHP-

 **Not quite within a week, I think. But first chapter of 2018! I hope everyone had a good one. I didn't but then I never do. Onwards and upwards though eh?**


	25. Sudden Skills

**Lets hope I got back on track!**

 **(no. I didn't. I had terrible writers block and this moved at about 300 words a day that felt like I had to get blood from a stone.)**

 **(also there's debauchery)**

-YDHP-

Harry consulted the Moon chart still on the wall, to be certain.

"It was a week ago."

"Itchy!"

Draco protested, attempting to get to the bleeding skin. Bertrand gently restrained him, frowning.

"He doesn't smell canine either. So what's causing this?"

Harry scanned Draco passively, slid the bracelet from his bleeding wrist and unbuttoned his sleeve. A scaly rash extended along much of his forearm, and the smell of something sickly and iron-like hit Harry's senses.

"Ah. The freshening charms on your clothes prevented me from detecting the scent of illness. Severus?"

Severus placed Raven back in her high chair and instructed an elf to watch she didn't make an escape attempt, crossed over to his boyfriend and outright vanished Draco's shirt. The rash extended across his torso, and now the air was irritating it Draco was struggling against Bertrand's restraints to reach and scratch more.

"Dragon pox. My understanding is the Weasley family have all suffered from it, whilst any non-human genetics will act as a protection of sorts so Vladimir is fine. Harry, I would contact Hermione and inform Vlad to check on his younger sister."

Harry did as bidden, grabbing his three way diary and anxiously awaiting answers, tapping his pen against his knee and leaving biro ink dots on the fabric of his bottoms.

"Hermione is fine. George isn't. Rash and scratching when Vlad got there."

"Tell Vlad to come here for a remedy he can take to her. She'll not be permitted back at Hogwarts until she recovers."

"Which is when?"

"Usual length from onset is a week."

Harry relayed the information to Vlad, who flamed in a minute later.

"How did anyone even get dragon pox? I mean, who could have brought it in?"

Severus pondered as he searched through a Potions case for a big blue bottle, which he handed to Bertrand before passing another to Vlad.

"Anyone could have brought the virus in, without succumbing themselves if they had already contracted it previously. I imagine if you were to ask William or Charles Weasley, they will know somebody who is sick themselves."

"Right. I better go give this to George. Dosage?"

"One capful mixed with a glass of water, three times daily. Overdosing will cause symptoms to worsen, should your little sister feel the urge to try and accelerate her recovery."

"Thanks. I better go."

Vlad kissed Harry first, then popped away to take relief to his sister. Harry was left to help keep Draco from scratching until the medicine kicked in, at which point he was almost instantly sleepy. Fever, nausea and fatigue were common side effects of dragon pox, Harry remembered from his Healing textbooks.

"I'll not be surprised if you find several students not returning immediately to begin the new term if the pox is circulating. Be sure to say you contracted it previously during the start of summer Harry, lest anybody notice you are not quite..."

Severus didn't need to finish.

"Human."

"Quite."

Harry had been through similar symptoms on his way to changing his state from full- to part-human. He certainly didn't miss the incessant itching, shedding of his 'scales' or the crippling pain in his teeth. Harry ran his tongue over his sharpened teeth, tapped his foot and was struck with inspiration.

"Harry?"

Bertrand quizzed as he watched the young wizard pull the Slytherin pendant from it's hiding place. He felt the pulsing magic, dark and destructive inside it. Closing his eyes, Harry raised the pendant to his mouth and bit down on it.

His sharpened teeth sliced through it easily, shattering a thin sheet of glass before a violent hissing sound could be heard. Harry practically spat it out, watched the small locket pitch and toss itself around on the ground before black gunk began to ooze from it. A high screech escaped like the soul fragment itself was being tortured and Harry's head throbbed with pain.

Then it was all over, and the rattling faded until the locket just laid on the floor in a puddle of goo. Cringing, Harry leant down, picked it up. The ticking sound was gone, only a gloopy dripping sound coming from it as ooze slid down, splashed into the thick puddle.

"Nice party trick. Please explain that insanity I just witnessed."

"Basilisk venom. Guess mine works on a horcrux."

Bertrand took it from him gingerly, frowning at the mess and ensuring none risked staining his clothing.

"So it would seem. Now you just need to find the rest of them."

"Details, details. A way to destroy them is a damn good start."

"True. Would you mind cleaning that up?"

Harry nodded and vanished the muck, leaving Bertrand with the wrecked locket.

"I wonder if the maker knows one is destroyed."

"I've wondered that. I mean if you only had _one_ I expect you would feel it, but he's got six or seven at best guess. I'm amazed there's anything left in him."

Bertrand hummed, placed the locket in a box provided to him by his lover. Harry left them to it - it was dead, that was all that mattered to him. When they returned to the room, Draco was no longer trying to peel off his skin and was instead examining the violent rash.

"This had better not scar. Lycanthropy was bad enough for my skin."

Sometimes, his brother was just a _little_ bit vain, Harry noted with an inward laugh.

"It will only scar if you _scratch._ I'll treat your wrist when the rash has faded."

Draco glared at Severus, clearly having been thinking about doing some scratching prior to the chastising. He gingerly put on his shirt again, frowning.

"Want to be revolutionary? Invent a bubble bath I can use to help this heal."

"By which time you will have healed and never be susceptible again."

The Malfoy teen pouted petulantly.

"Damn."

Harry headed up to bed not much later, after ensuring Draco understood the very real threat of soft mittens stuck to his hand with Permanent Sticking Charms, and found Vlad sat on his bed reading one of Harry's Healing textbooks. He didn't need much of a guess to know Vlad was reading up on Dragon Pox.

"How's your sister?"

He asked as he went to brush his teeth, and Vlad came to lean on the doorframe so Harry could hear his response.

"Annoyed she'll be off school for a week. _Annoyed!_ She's-"

Harry spat out toothpaste and finished Vlad's sentence.

"Definitely your sister. Dorks."

Vlad laughed while Harry rinsed, gargled and spat again

"Can't argue there I guess, but it makes a change from Ingrid who pretends she doesn't even know what a book is while maintaining perfect grades."

"Fair point."

The vampires eyes were roving over Harry's half-naked body, flicking occasionally over to the bath. Harry could take a hint. Especially one he quite wanted the end result of.

"Bath?"

Vlad grinned, waved his hand and the taps turned on. Harry rapped the bubbles tap until his favourite lemongrass-scented mixture poured out, and when he looked up Vlad was undressing. It was hugely pleasant his boyfriend was no longer shy to strip off in front of him. The hot water enveloped the cool skin of half-biter and half-basilisk, smelling pleasant and feeling silky.

Harry couldn't complain for a second about having such a constantly needy, wanting lover in Vlad. Slender legs wrapped around his body as Vlad gripped the side of the bath, arched his hips just so and Harry gasped as he pressed into the primal heat of his boyfriend. Vlad keened, face taut with pleasure already. It didn't seem to matter what Harry actually did; Vlad responded to the touch of his mate like he was in ecstasy from the start.

Still, that didn't stop Harry from making an effort. He _loved_ how responsive Vlad was to each touch, bucking and moaning with every thrust, lithe torso stretching to look almost impossibly long as his back arched. The muscles in his arm tensed and Harry felt Vlad's erection rut against his belly, dragging across the flexing muscles there and aided by slippery water. The charm Vlad used to skip preparation left him slick, let Harry slide in and out with ease.

Vlad had been raised to speak eloquently, though he relaxed around Harry moreso than anybody. It was still a thrill to reduce Vlad to filth and swearing, true proof his lover was in a state of total loss of control. _Harry_ did that, he was the cause of the coiled muscles and parted lips, gasping breaths as Vlad tried to grip him, hands slipping in the water so he tightened strong thighs around Harry's hips for purchase.

"F-fuck Harry... harder!"

It was a welcome invitation, Harry bracing a hand against the side of the bath himself to help him move faster, harder and successfully turn Vlad into a writhing mess. It was a beautiful sight, the vampires pleasure an exquisite image on porcelain skin. Vlad bore his mate's mark already, the little scars far more alluring to look at than the brand on his chest.

"Six months."

Harry growled, knowing Vlad would understand he was referencing the vampires sixteenth birthday.

"Mhmm. T-then you'll be m-mine forever."

When Vlad got his fangs, Harry was wholly expecting to be his mates First Bite. Quite probably his _only,_ but he'd told his boyfriend in no uncertain terms that he expected the First. Being _asked_ to mark his mate always made Vlad hot; Harry could bring up the subject as a precursor to sex and Vlad would be aroused and ready to go in a matter of minutes.

"Guh... gonna come!"

Vlad hissed out, back arching to what looked like painful proportions before he was shuddering against Harry, biting at his shoulder and quaking through the climax. Harry wasn't far behind, a few more thrusts before he came inside Vlad, hips pressing again and again to sustain the high. Vlad took it all perfectly, holding Harry tight and stroking the sweat from his jaw as they relaxed.

"I'm so glad it was you."

Vlad often beat Harry back to coherence, though physically he would be soft and pliant for several hours now with the satisfaction of his mate.

"Hm?"

"I'm happy the bond picked you. You're perfect."

They cleaned up in the bathwater and headed to bed, curling around each other comfortably until sleep came for both. He left early the following morning, but they were only a single day from Hogwarts reuniting them. Draco was pouting over breakfast when Harry descended from his shower, and he banked on his brother having been scolded for scratching. There was a specially assigned elf following him around to clean up the shed skin from his scaly rash; by tomorrow Draco ought to be bedbound from his symptoms, which would only annoy him further.

"Be sure to owl me any homework."

Harry hid his amusement in his bacon, watching Draco scowl at his porridge.

"I'll send it express with Vlad."

"Ah yes, instant transportation through almost any warding magic. Lucky git."

"We don't learn to apparate until next year anyway."

Gesturing with his spoon, Draco frowned.

"That is not the point."

Harry let it go - he'd be frustrated to get sick too. Especially right before they went back to begin studying in earnest for their OWLs. And Draco was a perfectionist, so every lost day would ire him further.

By evening, the rash had begun to worsen into the inflamed bumps that slowly leeched the infection from his body. Draco was miserable, and Harry didn't really blame him - it looked painful.

"I'll send a few nights worth of EZ-Sleep to Georgina with Vlad, I think."

Harry nodded in agreement, trying to imagine falling asleep when no way was comfortable and everything ached or itched or cracked. When Vlad popped back that evening, he was grinning.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

Draco grumbled, swallowing his medicine with a deep-set scowl and angry rash marring usually smooth features.

"I gave something a try, and George isn't cured but it seems to be helping."

"Tell me!"

"Here."

Vlad tossed a small jar to the grumpy teen, who held it up to look at the clear substance within.

"Water?"

"Phoenix tears. George added them to her bath water and said the itching and soreness was eased massively. You could rub them on like cream but you would need a lot more and it didn't make much difference to using them like bath oil."

"Vlad" Draco stood, the effort clear on his face "I love you."

"Yeah, thought you might. Go on, give it a whirl."

Considering he was grizzling about Vlad being phoenix only that morning, Harry was quite tickled by how much he suddenly loved that fact. Of course, they could get phoenix tears from Severus' lab or Fawkes, but Vlad's were fresh and easily transported via his easy apparition. Draco all but ran up toward his bedroom where a bath would undoubtedly be in order.

"Innovative. I would never have even considered it."

"It was something Charlie said about how phoenix tears are a vital ingredient in almost every dragon healing potion, and how Fawkes kindly donates a jar every few months. Not much else is magically strong enough to heal such magic-resistant creatures. So... I figured it was worth a try. My mum was a _bit_ surprised when I transformed in the kitchen though."

"I can imagine. I dread to think what my transformation would do to her."

Vlad chuckled, thanking Severus as he handed Vlad a few vials of EZ for his little sister.

"I mean, George doesn't seem to need that much sleep but this will at least make sure she can."

Harry agreed - George was usually the first Gryffindor to the table at breakfast, and almost always the most awake person there. Often pouring together bizarre food combinations.

"I better get these to her, and _you_ better be packed for tomorrow."

Harry felt a sheepish smile steal over his face.

"... Almost?"

Vlad rolled his eyes, kissed him and popped out again. It took Draco about an hour to come back down, looking infinitely happier despite no real change to the appearance of his skin - some of the scaly flakes had come off leaving reddened, raw patches behind but he looked unconcerned.

"That is _much_ better."

"Indeed. Perhaps if I can find a way to preserve the tears healing capabilities, it can be sold as a treatment bath oil for the pox."

Draco hummed in agreement, picking up a peppermint hot chocolate and only wincing slightly as he raised it to his lips with a sore patch just inside his elbow.

"You would need to ensure the recipe was resistant to any Potioneers Paper, else you would need to explain the source of your tears. Nor would Vlad give them if you were to overcharge based on it's rare ingredient."

Severus already had parchment out, jotting down ideas when Vlad came back - and naturally agreed to donate his tears to the cause. Once he was done letting them drop into the receptacle, the phoenix hopped up and rubbed his plumed head against Harry with a happy trill. Samael and Fawkes were uncomfortable around each other, but Harry and Vlad never were regardless of their forms.

"I'll come back and give you more each night, since they are better fresh and I'll be out checking on George anyway."

Vlad added when he finally turned back, shaking in the same way his phoenix form would ruffle its feathers. Harry found it endearing.

"Most kind of you."

As there would likely be Auror checks before the majority of students came back, Vlad had to leave until much later when it wouldn't be unreasonable to lock the dormitory door. Harry sat on his bed, stroking the scales of his growing familiar. Lily hissed and coiled around his hand happily, rubbing her head against the inside of his forearm to flick her tongue out, tasting his scent.

"That tickles!"

Vlad landed in his room with a flicker of flames, and Lily immediately reared up to defend her wizard.

"Threat! Threat!"

"It's just Vlad Lily."

Still rearing, Lily eyed Vlad warily, flicked her tongue out.

"Phoenix smells like tasty snack."

"I would like to see you try."

Harry wasn't sure who was more stunned - him, or Vlad - by the vampires hisses that answered Lily.

"Did you just speak Parseltongue?"

-YDHP-

 **Sorry if it's late. I tried.**


	26. Disrupted Dating

**Aima + Ookami Kasumi - thank you both so much!**

 **The next couple of chapters will cut through a fair bit of time, because... well, not much happens between Christmas and OWLs, I guess.**

-YDHP-

The sudden ability to understand reptiles was ever so slightly confusing for Vlad, but it did mean Samael couldn't make smarmy comments to Harry that he didn't understand. Although annoying, the basilisk _did_ have a logical reason for the unusual skill coming about.

"Speaking the language of snakes is a necessary skill for one mated to one who is part serpent."

Translation; the mate bond encouraged and helped Vlad be whatever his mate needed. His mate was half Basilisk. Vlad could now understand him in that form, even communicate with him. That made him happy.

Toothache did _not_ make him happy.

"You ok Vlad?"

"Mhmm" he prodded his throbbing incisors "just a little toothache."

Harry frowned, then his eyes lit with understanding. His eyes were serpentine more often than not around Vlad, but he rather liked them.

"Ah."

It was an inopportune time; studying for OWLs and trying to ignore the constant pain in his face was an unpleasant mix. He was used to dealing with pain, but Vlad tended to tense his jaw when anxious or stressed, and studying could raise both emotions considerably. Every time he tensed, he couldn't get his sore teeth off his mind all over again.

"You would think if your kind had existed for three millenia and basically invented the practice of Alchemy, that they would have considered making a cure for toothache."

"That would display weakness. Vampires are meant to thrive on pain and misery. Even our own."

Harry shook his head, turned a page in his Healing textbook where he stretched out across the sofa in Bertrand's old quarters. A private study area for an irritable pre-transformation vampire was an absolute lifeline, and Vlad spent most of his free time sequestered away in there lately. Ever since the January return to school, his nearing transformation and the nose-to-grindstone exam prep from teachers combined to leave him prickling with irritation and sometimes anger.

"The more you tell me, the more I realise how cheery you are for a vamp."

On the plus side, he was about to spend Valentines Day with Harry. They might still be a secret and Hogsmeade wasn't exactly private, but that had never mattered before when they _weren't_ a couple. It certainly didn't matter now. They'd have centuries to spend together properly when it was safe to be public, when Riddle wasn't a threat and Vlad wasn't an undercover double-agent amongst hardened murderous criminals.

"Thanks. I think."

Harry grinned cheekily, reached over and grabbed a chunk of fudge from his Honeydukes bag. It was a good job they had an upcoming Hogsmeade visit, else Harry would run low. Or Vlad would 'sneak' out. He had carte blanche to wander about - a pass to be off grounds from Dumbledore should anybody question him. So far, nobody had. But he had the pass just in case.

"You're welcome."

Vlad shoved his Transfiguration text away, rolled on his back and groaned. Nothing was going in; his brain was full of his upcoming date with the Blood Mirror. He had near four months to go, but that was no time at all to a vampire, or any immortal. Especially one about to take exams, as time would easily melt away from him.

"It's almost dark out. We could go flying?"

"That sounds like a good idea. If I read another book I'll die."

Harry laughed, tossed a Fizzing Whizzbee in Vlad's direction. He caught it, debated crushing it in his hand but knew he'd regret the mess.

"You're immortal. And a swot. It must be serious."

They stole out to the Forbidden Forest, stopping to check in on the Thestrals. They fussed around Vlad, sensing his impending 'death' and rattling happily at him. Once they moved on, Vlad shifted and saw Harry do the same, both spreading their wings to take through the air. Still fairly new to their wings, the two teens were pretty good fliers. Harry was a star Quidditch player, and Vlad's vampiric side was naturally inclined to fly.

He did feel much better after stretching his wings, shaking out his now non-feathered body with a low groan as Harry hopped about, then popped back to humanoid shape himself.

"Valentines soon."

"Yeah. Your favourite excessively sugary time of year."

Harry stared off into the distance wistfully, humming hungrily.

"Everything is red and sweet!"

"You sound like a vampire talking about teenagers at Halloween."

"Halloween is good too. For sweets that is. Not much else."

Harry yawned into his hand, rolled his head side to side to shift a crick in his neck. They wandered the Forest a little more, but made a quick flight out when he smelled unicorns nearby. Harry wasted no time wrapping himself around Vlad once they got into bed, like a snake ready to constrict a victim. Albeit an exceptionally _willing_ victim.

Valentines rolled up quick and fast, bringing with it heart shaped everything on the tables, Dumbledore's usual pink robes changed for something in soft pastels and hearts. He clearly didn't want to match the lurid fuschia of Umbridge's cardigans. There were cupcakes at breakfast, and everyone excited for the Hogsmeade weekend coming up.

Owls dropped gifts all over breakfast, cards and the usual stack of strangers sent Harry declarations of love. Vlad took great pleasure in burning them all after Harry read them, smiling to himself about how Harry was _his_ now, his mate loved him in return. He didn't have cause to be jealous, but the strangers could still do without entertaining delusions of Harry's love.

Still, it was **Vlad** Harry accompanied to Hogsmeade that weekend. Some of the stores and cafes had kept the decorations up knowing that many students would be on dates, and so the 'romantic' atmosphere would increase their popularity. Harry was thrilled it meant the sweets were still around.

He filled his Honeydukes bag with the usual offerings to cavities - one could only assume (and _hope_ ) his venom coated and protected his teeth - but also added some Valentines treats like Unbreakable Hearts. They were heart-shaped gobstopper sweets that didn't shrink down until a charm was used to allow them to be finished. Usually when the external flavour finally faded, which could take weeks. Then you went down to the next.

His fluctuating sense of taste meant Vlad felt equal parts sick and ravenous in Honeydukes, grabbing sugar quills for studying and otherwise filling a bag mostly for when Harry forgot his. He did let other people join in.

"Hi Vlad!"

He turned, spotted George and her friends - the Weasley twins clearly accompanying them and the less Vlad knew the better about upcoming pranks. George had a faint scar that wrapped around cheek and jaw, one that lingered from her scratching at her Dragon Pox rash. She had a few others, but his little sister didn't really seem to mind them.

At least there was a treatment option in the works; Severus was making good progress apparently. Vlad wasn't a natural Potions buff, he could follow a recipe perfectly but _creating_ was left to those who understood that. He was better with understanding magic, while Harry was great at Potions. Brilliant, in fact. They made a good match, a perfect team. Where one lacked, the other complimented.

"Hey George. Having fun?"

"Bit too much pink but the lady in the lunch place gave me ketchup for my brownies. Which was cool."

Vlad could only imagine. She was peculiar but wonderful, really. He was proud to be her big brother, and immensely glad they had found each other. He tossed a couple big bars of Honeydukes finest on the counter next to his order, paid and slipped the bag into his jackets expanded inner pocket.

"Hows mum?"

to mutter as they got outside; waiting for Harry to decide where he wanted to go to lunch.

"Good. Not loving the situation, but so far she's holding up well. Us Giles girls are tough."

Leaning down - George would be tall, but she hadn't started shooting up yet - he hugged her. Ignoring the sound of her pulse, the scent of blood. He would _never_ hurt George.

"Glad to hear it. I'll check in on her soon."

He bought the chocolate for a reason, after all. George answered his quiet murmur with a similar volume, letting it drown out in the hubbub of a busy street to all but a vampire.

"She'll like that."

They separated, and the Weasley twins both leapt on Vlad to hug him tight. They were tall string-bean types, and he felt bags of Lucifer-only-knew what in their pockets dig into his sides.

"Say Vlad" Fred leaned in close "you wouldn't happen to know where we can get Venomous Tentacula seeds?"

"They're a Class C restricted substance see. But we know you have your ways."

Vlad shook his head, laughing.

"One condition."

"Hit us."

"Not literally."

"You test _zero_ products they are in on students. With exams coming up, Hermione now has a point about you interrupting study with them and they can make one very sick."

"Fine."

"No students."

Vlad shook them off, seeing Harry look longingly toward the cafe that smelled like a mix of steak and syrup.

"Give me a few days."

"Of course."

"Come on kids"

"There's mischief to make!"

The twins and third years disappeared, and Vlad knew if Hermione was anywhere near rather than on her date with Draco, she might well have hexed the twins. Harry eagerly diverted them to the place that had steak, which made Vlad's upper teeth tingle in want. He bought a sandwich, skipping out on the chicken he knew Harry would glare at.

"You two are brave" the shopkeeper smiled at the two as Harry perused the dessert options while his steak was cooked "coming together on date day."

"Harry likes the food. He'd come if you decorated it to look like a Viking longship. I'm just hungry."

And later, Harry would be all over him. Vlad tried not to eye his mate, knowing it would probably be a look of naked want.

"Fair enough. Anything else boys?"

"Bottle of fizzy pumpkin for me. That red hot chocolate for him."

"And two of those."

Harry tapped the display, pointing at some heavily iced cake monstrosity that could rot ones teeth with a glance. Harry's favourite type of dessert.

They paid and sat down, Vlad's drink and sandwich looking minute next to Harry's spread. Then again, their builds did speak volumes; Vlad was lean while Harry was broad. Plus there was the fact Vlad liked watching Harry eat. The couples around them paid no mind, so he simply watched quietly as Harry licked pink icing from red cake, bit delicate rice paper hearts and crunched the sugary Cupid decorations with their chocolate wings that fluttered.

"Is the beast tamed?"

"For now. I wanna get another one of these to go" Harry indicated his hot chocolate "but I'll finish it quick so you can go geek out at the bookstore."

Rolling his eyes, Vlad stood up and stacked their plates up while Harry went to order. The tray levitated itself back toward the kitchen to be cleaned, weaving itself around customers expertly. As they wandered around Hogsmeade, Vlad saw one of the 'other' Death Eater students loitering near the Three Broomsticks. When they caught Vlad's eye, saw Harry stood next to him, he smirked darkly.

Vlad understood the implied threat; he was running out of time to turn Harry. They might not know how much Vlad had wriggled out of Riddle in return, but they knew the quiet was a calm before a storm that had Harry Potter on _their_ side.

He turned away, headed into the bookstore. He picked up a couple of books on magical art for Sally; he hoped they would cheer his mother up, then it was a trip for parchment and ink to make new notes for studying. It was common to read ones notes from two or three years ago only to find that they were a mess, and needed redoing to be legible and useable.

As they got back that evening, sky beginning to darken, Vlad felt his chest pulse and ache. He growled in annoyance, and Harry turned toward him, sniffed quietly.

"You have to go?"

"Well, I don't _have_ to but it's a good way to keep tabs on the pregnancy."

Harry sighed, nodding as they got back to Gryffindor Tower. Vlad took his time getting ready, packed the stuff he intended to take to his mother and asked Draco which store in Knockturn Alley would have illegal Potions ingredients. He knew his friend had gone with his parents as a boy, would know better which stores to go to. So Vlad wouldn't look like he was green around the gills there.

"At least most of the stores are open late."

His mate settled down on his bed, planning the next Defence groups spells out. Vlad smiled to himself, hoping these lessons would stick, would help people stay safe.

"I'll see you later. Stay outta trouble."

He left Harry and Draco alone in the dorm, taking advantage of the in the know people to apparate out of there to a spot more appropriate for his Voldie-key. The ominous meeting place was never fun for Vlad, although his galling attitude and late appearance often raised eyebrows on the ones not wearing masks.

Riddle was in a good mood, however. Well, good for him. Bellatrix was no better, probably because of the same reason. The baby. Vlad frowned as he took his seat, high up the table where the pregnancy stench lingered.

"So, what did I miss?"

The meeting wasn't even that important, and ended quite quickly. Up until Riddle beckoned Vlad toward one of his private chambers, offered the teen vamp tea that Vlad declined steadfastly.

"The time grows near. How are you progressing young Vladimir?"

"Don't worry Tommy" oh did he love to watch that muscle twitch in Riddle's cheek "it'll get done."

"One of my followers saw the two of you enjoying Valentines weekend together."

A flash of thought told Vlad Riddle was asking _exactly_ what he thought he was asking.

"That guy had the subtlety of a brick. And while I won't deny I could spend Valentines with a guy, Harry himself is more... restricted. Only likes women."

And Vlad. But that was a secret. Riddle twirled his wand between his fingers, watched Bellatrix across the room as she stared down at her stomach. Just over three months, she wasn't yet showing but Vlad reckoned it wouldn't be long.

"You consider that a restriction?"

He considered Bellatrix a restriction to sexuality as a whole, but somehow he didn't think Riddle would appreciate _that_ comment.

"Most vampires would. When you live forever, you tend to lose your inhibitions. Otherwise we'd die of boredom. You have to remember that we're a race known for our hedonism."

"I suppose so."

"Is that everything? I got places to be and whenever I stay here too long you usually end up down three or four followers."

Vlad's kill count was increasing. He hated it.

"Until next time."

"Keep your cool. You interrupt my studying and I'll show you what _real_ torture is."

Vlad stood, left before Riddle could decide to curse him in a flash of anger. Sometimes the vampire in him came in handy, made him a little more candid. Edging toward cocky and cavalier.

Knockturn Alley was grim and foreboding when Vlad apparated nearby, slipped a hood up and swept along the cold, winding street. Shadows were unnaturally thick there, pressed in against those who dared to venture. He thanked his vampiric night vision as he scanned dark, barely legible shop signs.

Just past _Tallow and Hemp Toxic Tapers,_ Vlad pushed open the door of _Shyverwretch's Venom and Poisons_. The shopkeeper was a wizened old strip of witch, and her smile was a rotten, leering thing that made Vlad's stomach clench. He lowered his hood as she leant in close, smirked as she backed up when presented with his pale, youthful face cast in flickering candles.

"I think you're in the wrong store laddie."

Vlad raised his hand, undid his cloak and then unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it open to reveal the Dark Mark branded across his chest.

"I don't think so."

Greyish-green eyes widened for a second, then she composed herself as Vlad fixed his clothes.

"How can I help?"

"That's better. I need Venomous Tentacula seeds. And the antidote to those, and Doxy venom."

The antidotes were on the counter in short order, and the gleaming glass containers and good seals on their caps at least assured Vlad she had good practice. Doxy antidote was easy enough to get hold of, but like the seeds, Tentacula antivenom was controlled. Hogwarts kept some for Herbology.

She hesitated before bringing out the seeds, reaching for a scoop coated in silver. Vlad noticed they were excellent quality, thick swollen pods that would contain several seeds at a time. Freshly harvested, he suspected.

The pods vibrated, and if touched the wrong way would burst and release poisonous sap to protect the seeds within. Silver dulled the response without damaging the seeds within. Vlad wouldn't be handing them over until he checked the twins knew how to access them safely.

"How many?"

"How much?"

"Eleven sickles a pod. Nine if you buy more than a dozen."

Since Vlad knew how expensive and dangerous Tentacula were to raise, he knew it was a reasonable price. He suspected this woman was a follower herself, but low down and just trying not to be killed by Riddle and so she didn't dare rip off a unique follower - Vlad's chest brand spoke volumes.

Shyverwretch himself was nowhere to be seen. Vlad wondered if he was dead already.

"Twenty."

They were carefully scooped into a pouch, placed gingerly upon the counter next to its antidote.

"That be all?"

"For now."

He paid, placed the bag of rattling pods and the antidotes in his bag. The Doxy antidote was for the twins too; he had seen them chasing the ones that lived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and it was only a matter of time before they got hurt. Lucifer only knew what they wanted either the venom or eggs for.

There were other stores he could drop by, but Vlad noted the hour growing late and he still wanted to visit his mother. He strolled along the ever-darkening street, shoes catching on uneven cobblestones until he got to the exit.

He apparated into his mothers kitchen, sniffed at the air and tracked her to her scultping stand. She always smelled like clay and paint, eyes bright with artistic excitement. He waited for her to finish pedalling to turn the wheel, presumably satisfied with the result and Sally stood, stretched and turned to find her son there.

"Vlad! What are you wearing?"

She was beaming as she crossed the room, and Vlad shrugged off his cloak.

"Ignore the cloak, I was in evil places."

Sally hugged him, squeezing him tightly and Vlad returned the fierce embrace. Something about her scent this close said 'mother', his senses recognising the woman who bore him, letting him know this one was to be protected.

"I wish you didn't put yourself at such risk."

She stroked his smooth cheeks, Vlad's impaired age process meaning his impending sixteenth birthday barely showed on his face.

"I am the safest half breed possible. Nearly nothing can kill me and the most evil man in the magical world is at least a little bit afraid of me, even if he denies it."

Sally made him a cup of tea, and Vlad gave her the gifts he picked up in Hogsmeade for her. She _loved_ Honeydukes chocolate, always told Vlad off for bringing it to her as she imbibed it quickly.

"Now those books have moving pictures, so don't go reading them on a bus or in a busy cafe."

It might only be a cup of tea and a late night chat about George and school and painting, but Vlad wouldn't change it for anything. Knowing his mother, knowing half of him was _human._ It was a balm on his battered soul, and he left feeling so much better than he had done when he got there. Sally was smiling too.

So was Harry, when Vlad made it back to Hogwarts and found his mate in bed waiting.

-YDHP-

 **Writers block will be the death of me.**


	27. Bloodlust Battle

**Thank you to the lovely reviewers on last chapter, I see them all and they make me feel better.**

 **Since I've had _so_ many people ask when it's happening, I shall inform you now that chapter twenty nine will be Vlad's transformation. If you've read my other YD stuff over the last couple of years it might seem repetitive, idk. There's only so many ways to write it.**

-YDHP-

"Vlaaaaaad" Harry drawled, staring unseeingly at a book "I'm bored."

Unsurprisingly, he got a clipped and curt response.

"Then study."

Maybe irritating a close-to-transformation vampire who wanted to pass his exams wasn't Harry's best idea, but he was uniquely placed to do so as Vlad wouldn't _dream_ of hurting him.

"I'm bored of studying."

"Study a different subject."

Pouting slightly in thought, Harry rolled onto his back with a dramatic sigh.

"How long until exams start now?"

"Two months."

Vlad couldn't help but keep track, since OWLs took place in the same month as his vampiric transformation. The vampire was starting to show.

If Harry wanted, he could probably quite easily _distract_ Vlad, but that would be a little unfair of him when Vlad was so intent on studying. Much as Harry reckoned sex would be a better use of their time than him staring at a book until his brain melted out of his ears.

"Behave."

Damnit. Vlad could clearly tell what Harry had been thinking about.

"Why?"

Harry pouted, wondering when Vlad became the voice of self-control.

"Because... I'm not very in control right now. And I don't want to hurt you."

It was only then Harry noticed the white-knuckle grip Vlad had on his textbook, the tension pulling tight at his neck and shoulders.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Vlad shook his head quickly, drawing in a deep breath.

"No! Just... keep your mind out of the gutter. Your pulse rises and... it's _difficult."_

Dating a vampire had some strange trials and tribulations, it seemed. Harry nodded to show he was listening, turned his attention back to his books. No matter how dull studying was, it was probably better than wrestling with a part of yourself that you hated. And Vlad _did_ hate being a vampire. He was learning to live with parts of it, like being mated to Harry. That he was powerful enough to hold his own against people who wanted him dead rather than undead.

But he would never _want_ the bloodlust. The fangs. The impending allergy to sunlight and aversion to garlic. The short temper was already wearing him thin; Vlad was such a cool, calm guy in general that his now frequent snapping and growling were out of character. Other students had started taking to trying to reassure Vlad he had nothing to worry about over exams, assuming that his stress was academic rather than vampiric.

With a low growl, Vlad thrust his book away, leapt up. Paced. His fists were clenched, face drawn tight as though in physical pain as he fought the sparks of his vampire side coming to claim dominance.

"I need to get out of here."

"Where?"

Vlad twitched, stretched in an uncomfortable pose and Harry recognised the motion Ingrid and Bertrand did after being in their bat forms, where some discomfort could linger around the shoulder blades.

"Riddle. May as well put the bad mood to good use and go scare some bad guys."

"Are you sure about that?"

Vlad nodded, muscles tightening involuntarily and magic visibly crackled around his hands for a second.

"Vampirism wreaking havoc on magic is well-documented. He won't know whats what and he _likes_ watching me fight. Better than taking it out on someone here."

Harry didn't get much chance to answer before Vlad was gone in a flash of fire, leaving him a bit put out about not getting a kiss goodbye but knowing Vlad was hypersensitive to the point of pain at times, and somewhat averse to most physical contact. Plus, he may not have trusted himself not to lose control with Harry. Harry probably wouldn't mind, but Vlad would.

He tidied up his books, looking out of the charmed windows and deciding a walk in the April sunshine was a nice idea. Vlad was already starting to itch in the sun sometimes, so Harry didn't bring it up but he couldn't help enjoying the sun on his scales. It was a reptile thing.

Ingrid's pre-transformation troubles hadn't seemed as drastic, Harry mused as he strolled along the courtyard, watching absently as students studied or lounged around in the grass. But then, Ingrid had been prickly and temperamental before. Maybe nobody noticed a difference.

He glanced over toward Hagrid's hut, lamenting the missing teacher. After Professor Grubbly-Plank replaced Hagrid in January (Harry suspected Umbridge's involvement or at least influence in the permanence), he'd noticed Hagrid acting shifty, some of his behaviour seeming awkward and secretive. He waved off the concerns.

Vlad, being a literal mind reader, knew better. Hagrid had a mission from Dumbledore, something to do with recruiting and Gubraithian fire. Apparently reading through Hagrid's giant blood was like reading subtitles on a TV screen riddled with static. And to ask Hagrid with that evidence would show how Vlad had invaded the mans mind, which didn't seem terribly fair.

Harry hadn't known what Gubraithian fire _was_ at the time. According to Vlad, it was some form of old magic that created a flame to burn forever, not to be doused by any means but the original caster. He could recall the conversation with clarity.

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _Vlad tsked, rolled his eyes fondly._

 _"I am an eternal flame. Gubraithian fire was magic invented by a Celtic guy who had a phoenix familiar. Odds are the spell is influenced by phoenix magic and nobody is quite sure. I might pick Dumbledore's library for information, as it's only passively mentioned in a book on phoenix biology."_

 _"Why Dumbledore?"_

 _"Well, if Hagrid has Gubraithian fire, odds are he got it from Dumbledore. A powerful wizard with a phoenix familiar."_

 _"Could you do it?"_

 _Vlad hummed, chewing on the thought._

 _"Probably. I'd need to explore my phoenix side more thoroughly though. Or ask Fawkes, which is the easier option I guess."_

Harry forgot to ask him about it. He saw George and her friends leaving the otherwise empty hut, Fang in tow to relax near the wilting vegetable patch. Professor Sprout was supposed to maintain it, but somebody had thrown Devils Snare seeds into one of the lesser used greenhouses, and before anyone could notice it's roots had crept beneath, wreaking havoc on the plants living above ground. So in fairness, their Herbology teacher had been pretty busy between preparing OWL and NEWT students and dealing with a rogue Snare.

He did check it wasn't the Weasley twins. Their answer of "if we had Snare seeds, would we waste them on Sprout when Umbridge still teaches?" had been hilarious, if questionable as a statement of innocence.

They _had_ been pranking Umbridge though. Harry remembered the three separate instances of Nifflers being set loose in her office, as they were destructive little critters when they wanted to find shiny things. Several of her cat plates had been smashed, apparently. Harry had restrained himself from appearing outside her door as a Basilisk frequently, only doing it once or twice and not always when she expected him for detention. That would be suspect.

Then there were the dodgy sweets, or 'Skiving Snackboxes' as they were better known. They not only facilitated students leaving Umbridge's class in droves as they spouted chronic nosebleeds, vomited spectacularly or were struck by sudden fevers, but also _somehow_ kept ending up affecting Umbridge as she confiscated sweet treats and never learned her lesson.

Vlad was the one who gave Madam Pomfrey the treatments, only the matrons trust that Vlad wouldn't intentionally poison the woman prevented her investigating further. Either that or hypnosis. Harry hadn't asked.

"Harry?"

He turned, found Hermione and Draco out studying in the sunshine. Hermione was lightly tanned, Draco as pale as ever. He could probably pass for a vamp if Ingrid dressed him.

"Yeah?"

"Where's Vlad?"

Harry dropped down next to them, slid his eyes around to check nobody was listening in before casting a loose silencing spell that would at least muffle their words.

"You know where."

Realisation lit both steel and cinnamon eyes, frowns following soon after.

"How come?"

"He needed to work off some anger. Birthdays soon."

"Merlin, yes. Is he struggling?"

Harry nodded, remembering the hunched animal who growled and paced like a caged beast when they were only studying in near-silence.

"Yeah. This close, he's all over the place and trying to study for his exams. It's worse than Ingrid. Maybe because he's more powerful?"

Draco added his own stronger silencer to their surroundings, twirling his quill in hand. It left the air with a buzzing sound around them, making it hard even if someone tried to eavesdrop.

"It's likely. His magical and vampiric cores are at odds. Ingrid's just a magical vampire, hers were always intertwined. Vlad's half human and his mothers a squib, so his are technically separate. His second magical spurt is either here or due soon, so with the transformation closing in his magic and his powers don't want to mix. Honestly, its amazing he's as stable as he is."

Harry hadn't known the problem was so deep, and imagined Vlad had tried to keep it that way so as not to worry his mate.

"How'd you know all that?"

"Bertrand. He's been trawling loads of centuries old books that'll fall apart if you sneeze in the same room trying to find someone that's anything like Vlad. He found a couple of texts on teen wizards turned before they turned seventeen, by some bored biter who just wanted to know what would happen. Amplify what they know with Vlad's big powers... really, he should be a ticking time bomb."

Harry frowned, wondering just how much Vlad was suppressing his problematic experiences and whether or not he should really be trying to take exams when he was so close to changing.

Part of him even worried the personality changes might be permanent. Vampire transformations were _supposed_ to make a biter more blood-lusty and angry and generally evil. According to the Dracula siblings, their cousin had gone off the deep end despite being a weedy little geek with braces, glasses and a jerky startle reflex. In Ingrid's own words, Boris made Vlad look like the prince of darkness.

If _he_ had become evil... _could Vlad?_

* * *

"I did not summon you."

Vlad hissed in Riddle's direction, felt the vampiric spark burning in his fingers, itching to flame and tear at flesh.

"I was hoping for a duel. Or a fight, but I doubt many of your lily-livered lackeys would take me on hand to hand."

The psychotic strip of pale darkness observed Vlad coolly, Bellatrix reeking of pregnancy and Lucifer only knew what else at his side. Many of the usual crowd were out pretending to be upstanding members of society holding down normal jobs. But there were still a few around. Vlad spied Macnair, the one who'd taken such pleasure in potentially executing any living thing. Riddle followed his eyeline, tipped his head as though curious.

"Is your pending transformation affecting you?"

"It's supposed to. If being a vampire was _easy,_ everyone would do it."

Several Death Eaters tried to look less present, perhaps knowing Vlad's reputation for duelling to the death when he was in a bad mood. Vlad wasn't sure how he felt about caring less for killing, remembering the crushing guilt when he cut Greyback's blood-soaked life short, soothed only by words from his mate.

Now he felt distaste for the act, and Vlad wouldn't be able to take an innocent life so calmly - or at all, he hoped - but it was already an expected part of his time as a double agent. And it wasn't as though the lives he took had no deaths on their own souls. Even the newer recruits were initiated through blood and murder. Sometimes each others', in some twisted 'winner stays on' contest to prove themselves.

In a way, he supposed it was good practice. Dumbledore wanted Vlad to kill him. Even if he liked Dumbledore, Vlad would kill to protect Harry from having to do it, but as he didn't really like the old coot... Vlad was preparing for the coming war.

"Macnair! Entertain the teenager would you?"

With a flair of enjoyment that Vlad knew his father would be proud of, he watched the flicker of fear in the sunken, gaunt old face. Some blustered, tried to insinuate duelling Vlad was beneath them. That usually got them _Crucio'd_ before then being sent to duel him anyway. Then it was like kicking a wet sand castle to bits, since Riddle held the curse too long and left the victim struggling to control their basic motor functions at best.

His jaw pulsed, twinging something fierce where his fangs ached to appear. Two lunar cycles to go...

"Ow!"

Macnair took advantage of Vlad being distracted by dental pain, shot a Slashing hex at his arm and Vlad grimaced as it cut deep. A few inches better aim and Vlad would have been at risk of losing the whole appendage. It could be reattached, but it would be a massive inconvenience. His magic lashed out in anger, slammed Macnair into the wall with a sickening crack. Vlad was no Healer - at least, not in this form - but he could close the gash up enough to stop Macnair or anyone else trying again; they would hit bone and that would _hurt._

"Playing dirty **really** ticks me off you know."

"Come now, it was hardly his fault you weren't paying attention."

Riddle smirked. At least, that's what Vlad thought the expression stretching non-existent lips over teeth like an eerily happy snarl was supposed to be.

"When extra teeth are trying to rip their way through your gums, tell me it's not a distraction. Anyway, it's the equivalent of hexing somebody in the back. Pathetic if you can't win without cheating."

Macnair was unconscious. Vlad rolled his eyes, sat down to treat his arm with a balm made from his own phoenix tears. It stung slightly before leaving unblemished skin and painless muscles in its wake.

"What kind of healing potion is that supposed to be?"

Bellatrix spat, scowling at him as though Vlad personally offended her. It was possible he did. Vlad lied, naturally.

"Vampire specific. We don't sustain injuries or scar the way humans do, our healing process sometimes needs a kick."

"Hmph. You're not even a biter yet."

Vlad hissed. She recoiled slightly and Riddle looked ready to hex him, visibly controlling the urge. He had to be careful not to let the hiss become an intelligible word to the other Parselmouth in the room, having no way possible to explain his sudden development of the almost-nonexistent skill.

"This close to my transformation, it's flickering in and out. I already have to use scent blocking charms in class so I don't try to eat anyone during Arithmancy. Bit conspicuous."

It was true Vlad used scent-block charms in class, because the constant smell of blood drove him to distraction but he had zero intent of _ever_ taking a bite.

Macnair began to stir, his drunken crawl and subsequent flop lending credence to the possibility Vlad had given him a serious head injury.

"Well, that didn't really sate the desire to fight. Anybody else?"

A couple of the cocky new Death Eaters tried to be challenging, and Vlad made short work men. He left them alive, but they would need medical attention to stay that way. The stone floor around them was dark with blood, and the scent was starting to get to him. Vlad felt a little dizzy with the sudden flare of hunger, ears registering a primal growl nearby. It took a minute to realise the sound was _him, a_ low and hungry rumbling in his chest.

He left before the urge could overcome him, or before he decided to flame out rather than walk and out himself as a phoenix. That would be all he needed. Vlad ran, sucking in lungfuls of fresh, unbloodied air and wishing that gnawing ache in his gut would abate. The vampire thirsted for blood, mocked him whenever Vlad told himself he would never give in, he just had to learn to ignore the cravings.

The Blood Mirror beckoned soon. Vlad would have to face his father for the first time in a long time when he returned to Stokely Castle to transform.

He was also going to have to face himself.

-YDHP-

 **It's getting close! Hopefully that makes up for the short chap.**


	28. Upcoming Undead

**Almost to vamp Vlad and Sixth Year... I never imagined how much far this would come when I first wrote a Vlad/Harry one shot.**

 **Sorry for the delay, I got absorbed in a HTTYD short that I just had to get finished so I could focus on these boys. T** **hen I had a migraine for about two days straight. Can't stare at a smart phone like that to write.**

-YDHP-

Harry watched his boyfriend, who was currently sat in the shade, knees hugged to his chest and head buried in the space between. He himself sat in the sun, Georgina Giles sat next to him with her schoolwork and snacks. Even from several feet away, he could see the tremor in his shoulders.

"How is he?"

Not-Hogwarts-uniform-compliant heels landed in the grass next to him, the sun protection magic radiating off of Ingrid. It was June, and it must be terribly uncomfortable for her even with practice. Vlad was relatively new to his struggle in the sun. After years he'd spent taking advantage of his pre-transformation ability to be in it comfortably.

"Struggling."

"Not surprised."

"Was it this bad for you?"

Ingrid shrugged.

"I'm not him. And I never fought it. Inside or out. Magically or mentally."

"You didn't answer my question."

Rolling her eyes, Ingrid turned back toward her brother.

"Yeah, it sucks. But it's over soon."

Vlad looked up as his sister approached, flinched from Ingrid slightly - his skin was hypersensitive as life and death fought over his body. Even his _clothes_ hurt him. Only Harry didn't. Not that he _minded_ an excuse to be naked with his boyfriend, but he didn't exactly revel in the reason being that otherwise, Vlad was in pain.

Still, vampires were easier on him than humans right now. Luckily, Harry didn't happen to be fully human. That probably helped his cause.

"How long until he's ok again?"

George looked over at Harry, frowning in concern for her brother. The expression looked almost alien on this perpetually peppy, vibrant girl.

"I don't know. I _want_ to say his birthday, but we don't know what will happen the other side. Vlad's unique. We just... don't know."

Harry couldn't lie, not to wide eyes full of concern for her big brother. He sought the same answers, but there had been nobody quite like him before. Dimidius were rare. A magical Dimidius quite probably rarer. Someone powerful both vampirically and magically rarer still.

There was only one Chosen One though.

"Not all of his kind survive, you know. I looked. Dimidius die as infants alot, because their bodies don't combine the genetics in quite the right way."

Harry looked round at George, immediately panicked. _Raven._

"How do you tell?"

"They'll be sickly and slow to develop, then down with some kind of breathing problem or... a weird thing like haemophilia. Why?"

"No reason. Just... curious."

George was too smart, too shrewd to take that hasty lie at face value.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"You are, but its ok. Vlad's made me realise sometimes we have to lie for good reason."

Popping a Fizzing Whizzbee in her mouth, George continued with her work whilst throwing the occasional look over at Vlad. The sun felt warm and comfortable on Harry's skin, far from the painful irritant it was to the vampires over in the shadow of a tree.

That evening, the Defence group met. The burning off nervous energy was needed for everyone, though Vlad didn't come that day. It made sense, since he could easily overpower his magic in the state he was in. Harry wasn't even sure Vlad would be able to take practical exams, with the worry he could overpower even simple magic running rampant in the teen vampires head.

 _"Stupefy!"_

 _"Protego!"_

Harry ducked a stray deflected Stunner, circling the paired up duellists and calling order a few minutes later.

"Ok... who thinks they've mastered their Patronus?"

Several people raised their hands and Harry waved them forward; a time drew near where the more people could fight off Dementors, the better. That was his driving motivation here, to make everyone as safe as he could before the darkness began to fall.

Before he and Vlad became part of it. Or at least looked to have done. Because, as the brand on his boyfriends chest proved, sometimes the only way to bring something down was from within.

Many of the people around him now would believe Harry a turncoat. That he had been swayed to evil, maybe even blame Vlad's influence. And they might lose hope if they thought Harry was gone. He had to give them all the strength and faith in themselves that he could until then, in the hopes that the light side felt something was still worth fighting for.

"Ok. Off you go Michael."

Several students had cloudy shield forms rather than a corporeal Patronus, but a spectral-looking cat chased a similarly floaty eagle while a hefty see-through St Bernard loped around in confusion at the lack of target to chase.

"Good work! Jared, come here."

Jared, a fourth year Hufflepuff, approached Harry shakily. This was when Harry channelled Vlad the most, remembering his own lessons learning this spell.

"Close your eyes" the badger complied, everyone watching avidly "and think of your happiest memory. That one that makes you smile every time it crosses your mind even for a second."

Jared's face tightened as he thought, but then a smile broached his face.

"Got it? Ok. Now let that feeling fill you up. Don't think of anything else... now, cast!"

" _Expecto Patronum!"_

A ghostly shape escaped the boys short cherry wood wand, taking form a few seconds later to reveal a sleek arctic fox.

"You did it!"

Jared was elated, staring at the form and reaching out toward it like he couldn't really believe he had conjured it. Harry swelled with pride, and several students clapped. Before long a handful more Patronus charms had come to fruition, a playful monkey and a quick-footed tiger amongst them.

"That's great guys!"

Harry dismissed them that evening, the last meeting before exams, with a room full of smiles. Even from the NEWT students. The stress relief of hexing each other to Merlin and back seemed to have done the trick, and as soon as he watched them all get in on the Map, Harry left to go see how Vlad was faring.

"I know he isn't feeling great, but give him my love yeah?"

Hermione said quietly as she hugged Harry goodnight, and he nodded.

"I will."

He found Vlad already behind closed drapes, and according to Neville he had been like that since he got back too.

"I asked if he was ok, he said he was studying and wanted quiet."

Harry suspected it was more to do with the fact the sun had only recently dipped below the horizon, otherwise shining into their high tower dormitory and irritating the almost-biter.

"Fair. I'm gonna take a shower before bed, broke a sweat in group."

Neville nodded, returned to his quiet pre-sleep cramming session as OWLs loomed ever closer while Harry grabbed his pyjamas, headed into the bathroom. His skin seemed to sigh in relief under the water, and he suspected he would 'shed' again sometime soon. Being part reptile had it's ups and downs. Brushing his teeth, he sighed in exasperated amusement at how his sharper teeth wore at the bristles.

When Harry left the bathroom, most of the others were bunking down for bed. Harry tried to appear he was doing the same as he waited, chewing a fudge square and frowning at the taste after just cleaning his teeth. Lily curled around his shoulders, hissing quietly about how 'the vampire was in distress'.

"I know. I'm just waiting for the others to sleep."

"Ah yes. The peculiarity of human secrecy."

"It's not about that. We don't need _him_ knowing."

Lily rolled her eyes, slunk around Harry's chest and curled herself into coils there like it wasn't hugely inconvenient.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

She laugh-hissed to herself, closed her eyes and adamantly resisted being moved. Harry surrendered and stroked her emerald coils, soothed by the familiar feel of scales beneath his hands. Samael had been very understanding that Harry had other calls on his time, was just glad for the brief visits Harry could make and the regular meals.

But he missed his bigger pet greatly. Made a resolution to spend time with Samael while Vlad was away with the Mirror. He was adamant Harry wasn't coming with him; his vampiric family would be there, and Vlad could be gone all day. The vampire refused to leave his mate surrounded by less human-friendly biters indefinitely.

The others finally started to drop off, soft snoring filling the room. Harry carefully dislodged his snake, who hissed in complaint but accepted her fate and curled in the warmth of Harry's vacated spot. He closed his drapes, then padded across to Vlad's bed. The closed curtains permitted him, and Vlad immediately turned toward him.

Even in the limited light, he could see Vlad's eyes were black, knuckles white where he clenched his fists. Only when Harry reached out and cupped his face did Vlad calm, eyes clearing as he leant into Harry's touch. He laid down, let Vlad cling to him as a sole port within the storm Vlad was being thrown through by his body and mind. Slowly, his tight muscles eased.

"I don't want this."

"I know Vlad" Harry ran a hand down Vlad's spine, felt his boyfriend shudder lightly "but it's nearly over."

"Then I'm like this forever."

"And I'll be around forever to calm you down."

Vlad burrowed into him tighter, face buried in his neck and arm tight around Harry's abdomen.

"That's basically the only upside to all this. That I never have to let you go."

"Exactly. I know you're going through alot Vlad, but the other side of it is immortality together. Now think you can get to sleep, or shall I get you a potion?"

Vlad pondered, shaking his head.

"No moving."

Harry smiled as he was cuddled up to by the vampire, squirming as Vlad inhaled his scent and it tickled his neck.

"Get some sleep. Not long now."

* * *

 _Drop. Drop. Drop._

Vlad clutched his quill, twitching as he heard even the charmed grains of sand trickle at exactly the right amount for measuring exams. His senses were on fire. Rapid, anxious pulses. Deep, sighing breaths. Scratching quills and the wet dipping of ink.

He was due before the Blood Mirror in only two days. Who's idea was it to let him take exams?

Of course, if they _had_ offered to delay his tests, Vlad would have insisted he was fine and turned them down. They should have offered to let him take them early.

But that would be suspect. Vlad couldn't be suspected as a vampire. Not now. Ingrid was almost free. He'd keep his species under wraps to protect her. Lucifer knew he had had her graduation at the front of his mind when he insisted upon the year to Riddle. It would give him the time he needed to try and prepare everyone else... but Ingrid could finish Hogwarts. The first place she ever felt accepted. Proud. Brilliant, even.

Vlad was trying to be a good brother. A good person. A good _vampire..._ if such a thing could exist.

Putting quill to parchment again, Vlad winced as he heard every scrape of quill over parchment. His heart started to spasm again, undecided about stopping yet as his 'death' approached. His fists curled, quill crushing between his fingers before blinding pain shot through him. Vlad clutched his chest and cried out in pain, crashing to the ground as he attempted to curl up in a ball as defence against the agony.

"Vlad!"

Voices cried out in concern, answered by deeper, sharper ones.

"Everyone stay in their seats! Collect his paper."

He was lifted onto something, whisked away from disrupting the exams as the fire spread to his head, burned down toward his extremities but the hottest pain was in his chest. The sound of a wounded animal was audible, and after a minute Vlad realised it was _him_ making it.

"Everyone out!"

Wait. He knew that voice.

"Ingrid-"

"Do it!"

Footsteps made his hospital bed rattle, then an ice cold hand touched Vlad's burning skin. Ingrid said something in Latin, and a second later Vlad's body shrunk and his pain vanished. Opening his eyes at last, Vlad cocked his feathered head.

"Better?"

Vlad trilled, nodded as best he could and stretched his wings out before finding himself with the strangest urge to start pecking at the bedsheets until he had a sufficient nest. Now the pain had eased, he knew the pain was pre-transformation-syndrome. Not everyone got it. Vlad hadn't had anything specific to it before now, but the collapsing in his exam probably counted. Ingrid had used the forced-transformation spell to turn him phoenix, knowing it was unlikely the phoenix would feel the pain of a vampire.

"You'll have to change back so I can leave, but I should be able to mix something that'll help get you through your exams."

He cooed in question, glad Ingrid seemed to have the same weapons-grade ability to read expressions in his bird face as his humanoid face.

"I'm a NEWTs grade Potions student. I have access to _so_ many cool books."

'Cool' and 'books' were not words Vlad ever expected to hear from Ingrid's mouth. But then, Ingrid really loved Potions. Bracing himself for pain, Vlad focused on changing back. The pain had receded, but it was definitely waiting to get him again on the next wave.

"Stay here. Tell Madam Pomfrey it's your transformation and you need rest. I'll be back in a few hours."

Ingrid left him there, ignoring any of the nearby adults as Madam Pomfrey entered the room Vlad saw the inside of far too often, shooed away the exam invigilator who had brought him up and closed the door.

"Let me guess. Vampirism?"

Vlad nodded, rolling onto his back and stretching his arms out, shoulders twinging from wings-to-not.

"Yeah. Two days to go. Did I fail my exam?"

"They are waiting on me telling them in my professional opinion if this was a skiving attempt. Naturally, I shall tell them you are genuinely ill and that you can finish your exams alone tomorrow."

"Alone would be awesome. Well. Depending who's watching me. I could be killed by any Ministry employee."

It was surreal how insane his unlife was that that was a normal thing for him to say. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips, tapped her wand against her arm.

"I could insist they be done here, under _my_ supervision in case of another... episode."

Vlad nodded eagerly, the matron one of the few people he was certain to be on his side. Not to mention very few were capable of arguing with her Dracula-level glares.

"Very well. Stay there for now."

Pain starting to climb again, Vlad flopped to the bed.

"Going nowhere."

He was used to learning to ignore pain, but Vlad was unable to help but count down to the end of the exam he had left, fairly sure one visitor in particular would come in soon after. Sure enough, it was only five minutes after quills down when he heard Harry's voice outside the door, demanding to know if Vlad was ok.

"Oh, go ahead before he get up."

Madam Pomfrey said with some exasperation, and Harry let himself into Vlad's hospital room a heartbeat later. He inexplicably felt better immediately, despite the pain not really abating as Harry closed the door, perched on the edge of his bed, ran fingers through Vlad's hair.

"Anybody else and I would assume it was to get out of tests, but with you I know it's for real."

"Pre-transformation-syndrome. Basically a taster of when I 'die' in a couple of days, but because my body isn't totally prepared for it, it hurts when my heart tries to stop and my brain still wants oxygen."

Harry sat with him, stroked Vlad's hair and face until the pain waned again. He wondered if Ingrid was done with whatever concoction she was coming up with.

"I take it pain potions won't work?"

"Nope. It would be like treating frostbite with one. Pointless."

"Harry" they jumped, but it was only Madam Pomfrey "you need to leave for your practical exam."

His mate sulked, but agreed and after leaning down to kiss Vlad's forehead, then his lips, Harry left regretfully to finish his OWLs.

"I'll leave you to rest, unless you need anything?"

"Calming draught? It might help me nap."

The small brown vial left him dopey, sinking into the bed with a yawn and blissful oblivion was his for a whole thirty minutes. His erratic metabolism burned through the potion too quickly. He could take more, but there was a chance his human side would overdose. Shifting on the bed, Vlad sat up, called an elf and requested juice and an incredibly rare steak, barely touched by heat. The near-raw meat soothed the angry vampire inside him, settled the gnawing ache in his gut.

For now.

Ingrid came back before Harry, holding a disgusting yellow mix in a bottle that she held out to him.

"Half today, other half in the morning. Ought to help ease your symptoms."

Vlad grimaced at the smell, and Ingrid merely looked away with a smirk when Vlad asked what was in it. Too desperate to turn it down when he was in pain, Vlad downed half the bottle in one long gulp. It sank to his stomach like ice, but within minutes his pain eased, tension lessened.

"That. Is. Disgusting. But... seems to be working. Thanks Ingrid."

"Even I think you've suffered enough. Now pass your exams. Then you just have to..."

She trailed off, frowning slightly. Vlad knew what she was thinking about.

"Become a member of the undead and murder the headmaster."

-YDHP-

 **Thank you for always being so patient with me!**


	29. Transformation Tribulations

**MarieDiAngelo97 - thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! As to the question about Vlad - yes! There will be. Just not when he's not so in control of himself.**

 **As you know (because I told you) chapter 30 is the last of Year Five, so the chapter will possibly be late as I have the first of Year Six to write, which will be uploaded right after. You guys know the drill by now.**

 **Also there's sexy times in this chapter.**

-YDHP-

Vlad bolted upright, panting and sweaty with his dying heart trying to thunder out it's last few beats. Harry grumbled next to him, stirring and pushing himself up to look at Vlad.

"Are you ok? Transformation thing?"

He nodded, clutching his chest as he lingered between life and death. Harry rubbed his back, soothing to an extent but they were on the final stretch now. All he could do was try to hold out.

"Nightmares. Normal, but horrific. Time is it?"

"About three."

Vlad flopped back down on the bed, groaning.

"Three hours to go. Bloody sunrise."

"Is that when you..."

"Die? Sort of. Everything in me will slow right down. I'm not dead til I face the Blood Mirror."

And his vampire family for the first time in a while. He hadn't seen his father since the finding out he was Dimidius. Found out his unlife was a lie and that Count Dracula had known why his son was 'different', penalised him anyway.

"Come on love, try to sleep."

Harry burrowed in against Vlad sleepily, slinging an arm over his waist to help the twitchy vampire feel safe, swaddled in his mates embrace. It didn't fix the problem, but it helped. Vlad closed his eyes and tried to settle, tried to sleep away the final few hours of his humanity.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to go see my mother."

Harry yawned, sat back up rubbing at his eyes.

"I'm coming with you."

That was probably a good idea; Vlad didn't want to risk his bloodlust surging while alone with Sally. Assuming she didn't smack or stake him for turning up at three in the morning. He and Harry grabbed clothes and changed in the bathroom, Harry holding tight so Vlad's phoenix apparition could bring him along.

"Vlad?"

Apparently, sleep wasn't being kind to his mother either. Vlad stumbled over to his mother, seeking comfort in her arms and she offered it.

"What's wrong son?"

"I just... wanted to see you again. With a heartbeat."

Never again would he have the chance to see her through human eyes. His mother hugged him tight, petted his hair and when he glanced over, Harry was smiling tiredly at the two.

"Why are you awake?"

"I was worried about you. I knew what today was after all. Oh, and happy birthday by the way."

Vlad smiled, soothed by her caring for him. He always expected to be rejected as the monster started to show within her son.

"Thanks. Technically it's my death day. The castle bells will toll for me soon."

"Are you scared?"

"Terrified. I don't know if I'm going to come out... _me_ afterwards."

Harry sat nearby, mostly quiet but his presence alone eased the vampires concerns as he talked with his mother.

"Is Harry going with you?"

"Absolutely not. It could take all day, I'm not leaving him with a room full of vampires while me and my reflection get to know each other."

Sally quirked an eyebrow, confused.

"Your... reflection?"

"Yeah. It's why we stop showing up in mirrors. Our vampire powers and everything else grow within the clans Blood Mirror, until we turn sixteen. Then we have to merge with it, it literally comes out of the Mirror and becomes part of us. Hence, no more reflections."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

His mother commented. Vlad shrugged, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt and feeling his heart stutter and speed in unpredictable loops.

"It's not that simple. We have to... I suppose _fight_ is the word. It's a battle between which side rules. Before you, or reflection you. Reflection you is a concentrated dose of vampirism. My cousin Boris went from shy, asthmatic nerd to serial killer in ten minutes flat."

"What about your sister?"

"Ingrid? She's always been callous and irritable and slightly murderous... she still cares about some things, but Ingrid was always born to be a vampire. Or rather, unborn. I don't know why we call it that... I think it's to match that we're 'undead'. Or vampires just like to be tedious and difficult."

Five am claimed them with the faintest signs of dawn, faint streaks of pink and orange before the sun would even break the horizon. Vlad's chest started to ache as his lungs resisted oxygen, the potion Ingrid gave him to manage his pre-transformation symptoms wearing off.

"I better get him back, see if he can get a little more rest. It was nice to see you Mrs Giles."

"Oh, Sally, please. From what I understand, we're future in-laws."

Harry chuckled as Vlad hugged his mother tight, looked at her for the last time through human eyes.

"When will I see you again?"

"I'll try to come see you tonight. _If_ I'm in control enough. I want you to keep this."

Vlad handed over a thin metal band made of argentalium, knowing she wouldn't take a weapon he'd gotten hold of a repellent. It already made his skin hurt to handle.

"What is it?"

"Argentalium. A mix of garlic and silver. Repels and drains power from both vampire and werewolf. That alone won't drain me, but it'll keep me at arms length if I start acting... _off._ Promise me you'll wear it if I come over?"

Sally baulked at using something that could repel her son, but Vlad begged her with his face and she eventually conceded. He left with Harry, knowing he'd not sleep again and opting instead to sort out his things - he would be expected to dress **appropriately** for the 'change', and so naturally Vlad intended to wear his most casual attire, barely above the class of pyjamas.

It was to be his last moments alive; Vlad was damned well going to be comfortable

The dormitory was eerily quiet, still forty minutes to go until Vlad's body would reset, ready for the new system to take over, supernaturally supporting his brainwaves and preventing muscular atrophy so long as it was regularly fed with blood - or a close substitute like soya blood. Hellfire, Vlad would drink soya for eternity if it stopped him hurting humans.

"Hey" Harry's fingers brushed Vlad's back "what are you thinking about?"

"Blood. Or rather, what I'm going to do for food over the next few months. Ingrid drinks donated, and is allowed to go off grounds at night to hunt animals. And by 'allowed' I mean she told them she was either going or she was going to eat students."

Harry chuckled, leant over and kissed his cheek.

"I have considered that myself. Samael said your bite won't hurt me, so if you need to, you can feed on me. _However"_ he held up a hand "wait, wait! However, I know you probably aren't thrilled with that idea. You can live on animals. Samael is going to need feeding. Drain a cow, toss him the body. Better?"

Vlad nodded, thankful yet again that his mate was such a brilliant person. He turned to embrace Harry properly, curled his body against cool muscles and felt strong arms circle him. It was awesome that Harry was built to match him, almost-cold-blooded and stronger than even his broad body suggested. Also non-turnable, and obviously the main one - _immortal._

Harry kissed his hair, loosened his arms to let Vlad lean up to kiss him properly. His body, in all its turmoil, demanded the attentions of his mate and Vlad crawled into Harry's lap wantonly. Harry allowed it at first, hands settling on his hips before trying to push him away gently.

"Easy now. You're not well."

"I'm fine. I mean I might have to stop because I feel like my heart will come out of my chest, but you've had that effect on me for _years."_

Harry wavered but didn't immediately cave, though Vlad could taste his arousal on the air, feel Harry's erection swelling against his own.

"Please? It will be different when I change."

Sighing, Harry stroked his fingers over the shape of Vlad's hipbones.

"Are you sure you're up to this?"

Vlad nodded, kissing Harry again and the vampire calmed slightly in the show of desire from their mate. It was his favourite kind of praise, proof he was what Harry wanted. He knew it, really, but the mate bond thrilled in every reminder it got.

Harry rolled him over to his back, pressing Vlad's wrists down to indicate he wasn't to magic off his clothes in haste. He wanted to undress him, it seemed. Vlad squirmed and tried to move helpfully as his bottoms were removed, t-shirt pulled off leaving Vlad in his underwear, straining fabric over his erection. Hands scrabbled at Harry's waistband, wanting the impeding fabric over his legs even if Harry was already bare on his top half.

Clothes made his skin hurt, so really Harry needed to undress them both faster so their skin could meet. When they were both bare at last, Harry leant across him to press their mouths together softly, felt a hard cock drag against his own and Vlad bucked, whimpering at the sensations inspired as Harry's shaft rubbed along the underside of his until he shook. Harry touched hands to his trembling thighs, looking up at Vlad to ascertain if he was as capable as his cock was eager.

"Are you ok?"

"Uh-huh."

Harry prepped him with gentle, insistent fingers, working Vlad open and stroking up at his prostate until he was a trembling wreck. He no longer knew if it was Harry or vampirism making his heart pound. He didn't care, desperate to have this last 'human' moment with Harry before his body changed. They'd gotten plenty of practice at this already, and Harry seemed to take great enjoyment from reducing the vampire to incoherent babbles and needy writhing movements.

He was **very** good at that.

By the time Harry got inside him Vlad could barely breathe. It could be the closing in of sunrise, it could be the pressure easing to allow mind-numbing pleasure. It could be Harry's weight against him making Vlad feel safe and secure until he was ready to burst with the feelings swelling inside his chest.

"S-still ok?"

Harry gasped, muscles taut and Vlad could _feel_ his effort to hold back, to know Vlad was still willing and able to enjoy what they were doing. Vlad rocked his hips to encourage Harry to move, faint ache of penetration long gone as he thrilled in their connection. He didn't have the control to drop his mental barriers at will, but he could feel Harry's pleasure and undoubtedly showed his own.

The low, guttural groans that rumbled in Harry's chest before leaving his mouth sent heat through Vlad almost as thoroughly as the feel of Harry moving inside him. He twisted and clutched at solid shoulders, growled when Harry bit him and shuddered more violently when the serpent tongue fell from his lips. He could hear the hisses, the translation happening a second later and Lucifer he _loved_ when Harry showed his non-human side.

They fit. Matched. Strange creatures even in a sea of magic, darkness as much a part of them as light. Harry thrust a little harder, one hand bracing him by Vlad's head while the other curled around his hip. His own stocky hips met the back of Vlad's thighs as they lifted to hook behind Harry's back, clutching the other teen tighter to his body in every way he could.

Harry's knees widened and it shifted his angle, turning Vlad's pleasured moans into barely-audible gasps as his breath left his body, back arching as he grasped the sheets, fists clenching as he wound tighter and tighter. Harry didn't have to touch his cock to make him come, but when he did the electric sensations certainly made it a faster job. Vlad's body as his blood pumped hotter for the last time, Harry's touch cool and erotic against his swollen shaft and he bucked, trembling as he came with a soundless cry and spilled over Harry's fist.

"Love you."

His body quaked with aftershocks as Harry came muttering that against his neck, cool weight against hot skin while a last few thrusts sustained their shared high, the come down slow and warm.

Really, _really_ warm.

"Vlad" Harry's hand pressed to his forehead, the side of his chest not marked by Riddle "you're burning up."

Ironically, he began shivering like he was plagued by fever. The tickle of cleaning charms made his skin prickle, but his mates magic melded effortlessly with his own.

"I-it's almost time. Think o-of it as m-my body expelling h-heat."

He tried to stop the shakes, cursing his body and the hour upon them. Most vampires slept through this part, woke up after sunrise to meet the Mirror. Not that Vlad would have chosen that over his last _human_ time with Harry.

"Y-you should g-go."

"No chance."

Harry wound his fingers through Vlad's, using his cool scales to soothe Vlad's burning skin as the sun started to flicker through the gap in the curtained tower window. When it was over, Vlad fell limp with a deep sigh. The pain was gone. Shakes stopped.

Skin cooled, pulse slowed. Breath felt alien in his lungs. His jaw finally stopped aching, knowing it was almost time. His body finally cooperating, ready to face the Mirror.

"Vlad? Are you ok?"

"Fine. C'mon. Breakfast. I want to see George."

Harry thankfully complied without argument, downing a Pepper-up to keep himself alert as Vlad crawled into his comfiest clothes, walked to the bathroom to stare at the mirror for a minute. A perfectly ordinary mirror with no hidden vampire powers. Before the others woke in the dorm, Vlad stood next to the sunbeam entering the tower. Unclenching his fist, Vlad let his hand sit in the sun.

Smoke and burning and crackling soon made him regret it, recoiling and clutching the burned skin to his chest. It was mild, the burn healing over quickly but it was absolute.

He was a vampire.

Harry waved his wand over Vlad silently, and Vlad felt the coating of a Sun Protection charm settle over his skin. He put his hand back beneath the sun; it smouldered and smoked and hissed, but he felt no pain. Only an insistent itch that eased when he left the glare.

Ingrid was already up, came and sat at the Gryffindor table - after flicking Vlad's ear with a sarcastic 'happy birthday' comment. George appeared almost the second they sat down, perched next to Vlad with a beaming smile and hugged him.

"Happy birthday!"

"Thanks George."

Her friendly nature was common knowledge - it was no true peculiarity for her to hug Vlad. He felt something slip into his jumper pocket, which he resolved to look at later. Else it defeated the point of George giving it to him secretly.

"I saw mum last night. She misses you."

Vlad, Harry and both of Vlad's sisters were the only ones sat there at that minute, so they could talk fairly freely, if quietly.

"I miss her too. But terms nearly over."

"That's true."

His stomach wouldn't accept food right now, so Vlad stuck to a cup of tea that his taste buds barely registered, numb to anything but blood really now as the nutrition his body needed began to change. It would shift back when he transformed properly, but he was stuck in limbo right now. Draco and Hermione were next up, both giving Vlad birthday greetings and more openly presenting him with presents.

Vlad opened them at the table - with assuring nods that it was safe - and thanked Hermione for the books (naturally) on magical creatures - one Dark, one Light. For the vampire and the phoenix inside him. Draco had gotten him a jacket, a _really_ nice black dragonhide jacket with the label clearly marked as a **_Dragon Heart_** production. The company exclusively and explicitly only worked from dragons dead of natural causes, which could hurt their profits as it potentially left them without stock. Yet they donated part of said profits to dragon protection reserves every year.

"Wow. Thank you."

Harry liked it too, Vlad could tell by the appreciative gaze he got when trying it on. Dragonhide didn't take magic well, being naturally resistant to most types of magic but there was a thin velvety lining with charmed pockets in, which Draco said were custom made for Vlad, who liked to carry everything everywhere.

"I'm not wearing it to my birthday... tradition thing, because my outfit is designed to annoy the relatives and they would like this. But honestly, it's gorgeous."

Draco waved off his concerns with a smile, then pulled a box from his pocket and handed it over silently. Vlad knew who it was from, opened it to find a couple of books on warding and runes, a note of birthday congratulations that masked a photo of Raven, and something in Romanian that roughly translated to "I wish you a swift and painless death". Possibly an odd sentiment, but in reality Bertrand was wishing Vlad to not have problems with the Mirror. It was heartfelt, really.

Peering around to check they weren't being watched, Vlad showed the picture to Harry, who passed it on to Draco while Vlad distracted George with the books he'd received. Then the photo was whisked away before anyone who didn't know of her could see the girl who looked suspiciously like a blend of two previous tutors at Hogwarts.

He eyed Professor McGonogall as she came in, equally attracted to searching for Vlad. She knew what today was bringing to him. The eternal curse of bloodlust and light sensitivity.

"I better get going. It's easier to escape when half the schools sleeping in."

With exams finished the previous day for all but first years, much of the student body was taking well-deserved lie-ins. Harry squeezed his hand beneath the table, and those around him murmured sentiments of luck.

"Stay safe."

"You too."

Vlad drew in a deep breath, his lungs unsure why they needed to expand for a second as he stood up with a touch of dizziness. His equilibrium was a little off.

"Professor."

"Vladimir. Come this way."

Vlad followed her into a side room, not realising until it stopped that the throbbing in his ears were a couple dozen pulses beating around him.

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. You have my portkey? I'd like to get this over with."

McGonogall handed him a Rubiks Cube, though bats knew where it came from. Probably confiscated from a Muggle-born student who was playing with it in class.

"Thank you. tell Professor Dumbledore I need to see him when I get back?"

"I shall. The password home is Red, the one back is Blue."

"Got it. See you on the other side professor. Red."

The cube jerked Vlad along; his portkeys were smoother, his apparition barely disorienting at all unless he rushed so the hurtling throw was unpleasant. Vlad pocketed the portkey, shaking off the pounding headache as castle bells tolled for him.

"Vladdy!"

Apparently, his father intended to act as though nothing had changed. He wasn't surprised, given the reasons they parted sourly being an imminent and to both their unlives if it should come out. Not to mention the likely elimination of the human proof.

"Dad. Granny. Grandpa. And Ma- mum?"

Vlad only just caught himself. He hadn't seen Madga Westenra in person since before he discovered Sally and George. She regarded him with the same cold indifference as ever, perhaps even more now she probably knew he knew.

"What on _earth_ are you wearing?"

His grandmothers sour look out-ranked any lemon, glaring at his outfit with utter disdain. Harry had promised to take good care of Vlad's new jacket, to take his gifts to the tower.

"Suit and cape would raise eyebrows at breakfast. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing, only what I do."

There were gifts on the table, swathed in black paper and red ribbon, yards of black lace to give it an air of refined elegance. His heart stammered out some of its final beats as he was marched to the Mirror room by the Dracula patriarch, the trio of Westenra. They'd fight like bats and slayers while he was in there, Vlad was certain.

"This is it Vladdy! Your destiny!"

Dracula grabbed his shoulders, leaning in close with excitement carved onto his six-centuries-old face.

"If you say so. Now get off me."

His father let go like Vlad was holding garlic, the big door opening once Vlad was alone before it. The Mirror hissed in a language all its own, summoning him closer. Once Vlad stepped in, the weight of what was happening seemed to press down like darkness cast over light. There were no candles in the room, the only light from the _Illumini_ spell Vlad cast to take a better look at the Mirror.

It was huge, bigger than the Mirror of Erised and far more... intimidating, seeming to loom over him like a towering giant that held all his worst fears. Twin faun statutes flanked it, as golden as the gilded frame and equally ornate despite their ugly, twisted faces. They stood stock still, merely there for decoration.

The last vestiges of life left him as he stood before the glass. Even if he didn't merge, Vlad was now officially undead. All that his reflection could offer him now was his powers, the residual supernatural energy in him enough to fake life signs to breathers but not vampires. Placing a hand on his chest, Vlad's fingers flexed as his heartbeat no longer thrummed. If he stood still for four hours without taking a breath, he wouldn't feel any different.

Maybe a bit weird for standing still for four hours. Stiff legs perhaps.

Finally, he focused on the Mirror. The glass showed him his last reflection, the last time glass would display pale cheeks and blue eyes, tell Vlad he ought to have practiced doing his hair more while he could see. He tugged his jumper and t-shirt off, stretching to look at the scar on his back before looking down at his chest. Scar and brand resided there, the certainty of whether it would survive the transformation or not non-existent.

He was about to find out. Vlad stepped right up to the Mirror, knowing he needed to be close enough to be recognised by the slice of family power waiting for him - this one Mirror supplied the entire Dracula clan.

Strangely, his reflection faded as he got closer, the glass almost seeming to turn completely black as it blanked. He turned his head, could have sworn the statue _moved_ in the corner of his eye but when he looked, he thought himself insane for even considering it.

Then the light went out.

Stone hands grabbed his upper arms with a grip fierce enough to bruise, then physically lifted and hurled him toward the Mirror. Bracing himself as he heard glass shatter all around him, Vlad opened his eyes to find an empty room, dark and dim and stone all around.

"Ok... This is not supposed to happen."

Looking down at the floor, there was no broken glass, no injuries of shattered shards ripping him to pieces. Vlad straightened up, looking around. The scant available light seemed to come from nowhere at all, illuminating the clear plane of glass that Vlad suspected was the Mirror. He was _in_ the Mirror. It was possible to enter ones Blood Mirror, but not like this. The Dracula Mirror-world was a boggy lake. Vlad wasn't sure how it was picked.

This strange stone room was not it. It was too empty, too... eerie. Not that most vampires thought eerie was a bad thing. Nothing indicated how any of it was to do with his transformation. Not until the whispers began.

"Vlad... Vlad... Vlad..."

At first that was all it was. Just his name, over and over from _every_ direction. It was strange to feel surrounded by ones own name. Every whisper was his own voice, which made it seem like an obtrusive echo he had never started.

"It's about time."

That voice was more solid, and most definitely his own. Vlad turned around, found... his reflection. They weren't identical, but mirror images. The brands, the scars, even the stray strands of hair. All there, all on the opposite side of 'his' body.

"It's my sixteenth birthday. It's only just time."

"For you maybe. For me... for _us,_ even, it's been a long sixteen years waiting."

"Us?"

"Oh. We'll get to that. Lucifer knows it's been tedious... you ever spent your time with a thousand baby wraiths?"

Vlad frowned. There hadn't been that many Dracula's, only a handful of generations and each one with two or three children at most.

"What do you mean?"

It was surreal to ask _himself_ questions like this. It wasn't quite the usual mental conversation one could have with themselves. Reflection-Vlad smirked, lips pulling back to reveal fangs.

"I was made as I am now, like... the end goal for the others. Always wondered what caused these weird marks." Mirror-Vlad gestured to the Dark Mark, the AK scar "However, the others... they had to grow like the average reflection would. It was Hell. And not the fun kind."

"I'm still lost. Who are all these 'others' you keep going on about?"

Mirror-Vlad threw his head back, his mirthful laughing leaving Vlad ice cold.

"Oh, that is priceless. We wait sixteen years and you are clueless. You're no ordinary vampire Vlad. You're special. The Chosen One" he waved a dismissive hand "and all that. You don't have one evil reflection" the air all around them began to chitter restlessly "you have a _thousand."_

Vlad took a step back, felt the glass against his back as the scant light became burning bright. He covered his eyes, turned to try and get out of the Mirror but it was fruitless.

"You won't get out without us Vlad!"

His voice had never sounded quite so callous before, and Vlad heard the rhythmic pattern of many, many footsteps. Swallowing thickly, he turned around. Never had he expected to see such a thing, dozens upon dozens of Vlad-copies, going so far back he couldn't see the end of the crowd.

"What if I don't? What if I refuse to merge?"

"You would have to resist each of us individually. **Forever.** You're powerful Vlad" the first one, the only one with fangs, stepped closer, ghostly fingers sliding over Vlad's jaw and he recoiled from his own touch "but even you aren't _that_ powerful. Don't fight us. It'll be so much easier."

They rushed him. Vlad couldn't straighten up without another reflection leaping into him. He tried to resist but the pain was unbelievable, rewriting his body with the new powers like flames, the disconnection of every atom to become a wisp of smoke. The skin of his palms changed slightly, now enabling him to scale a wall like a spider. The blinding pain of his fangs coming through was the easiest part, the burning in his wrists taking over as it spread down each finger.

Again and again, these Mirror-hims merged with him against his will, tearing into his soul each time to settle there until they made up the whole. It stopped at last, left Vlad limp and sweaty, hair damp as he gasped for breath and straightened up. He was left with only one. The first one again.

"I know you. Or me, should I say? Semantics. You think you'll walk out of here, go back to being Mr Goody Two Fangs. Just remember, wherever you go... we'll be with you."

The last one stepped forward, almost seeming to walk right through Vlad but he felt the way this final one merged the rest together, coalescing low in his gut and _now_ he understood. His Chosen One powers came from this. He had a thousand reflections worth of power. He could be a tenth the vampire anybody else was, but it was a _thousand_ times over.

Vlad lifted his hand, trying to summon a fireball and he was almost blinded by the brightness on his freshly changed eyes. The faintest crackle of burning air tickled his ears, and when Vlad ran a tongue over his upper teeth, he felt four razor sharp points. Dracula double fangs again, just like Ingrid and their father.

Stumbling through the glass, Vlad was permitted to leave the Blood Mirror at last. As he slid through the barrier, the sweat and aching vanished to leave him feeling oddly refreshed. Energised. He looked down, seeing that while his AK scars had faded, they lingered. Fingers ran over his neck, relieved to find Harry's claiming bite stayed.

The Dark Mark hadn't vanished either. Vlad scowled at it, picking up his clothes to put back on before the group waiting outside burst in and found the secret brand. All the while, he ignored the voices yelling inside his head, his reflections clamouring for attention and control. He ought to ask Bertrand if he could learn to hush them permanently. For now, he clamped his Occlumency and Telepathy barriers iron-tight around his mind, which quieted if not silenced them.

Power sang incessantly beneath his skin, desperately demanding to be used by Vlad. He held out his hands, conjured a fireball in each and rolled it between his fingers, extinguished them and stretched his arms at his sides. Licking at his fangs again, Vlad retracted them and felt better to have his teeth flat again.

The door swung open, Count Dracula practically falling through it in his haste to get in and see Vlad transformed. When Vlad refused to display his fangs, Dracula grew irate as did his grandparents.

"I don't care what you want. What _I_ want is for all of you to stay out of my unlife. Flap off to Transylvania and never return."

He wanted them gone so Riddle didn't go after them, but he also didn't really care for their company. Vlad faced the door to the Mirror room, closed his eyes and focused on locking it securely. Nobody would be able to get in there, to get near the Mirror. It was too dangerous. Should someone smash it, every Dracula would crumble to ashes. Except Olga, his untransformed cousin. She would become human.

"What are you doing?"

"Protecting myself. And now I'm leaving."

Vlad pulled the cube from his pocket, watched the surrounding biters grow angrier with his dismissive behaviour and lack of obedience. He wanted them to think him insolent and childish - it made them less likely to try and follow him immediately. Vlad wasn't explaining a horde of angry biters outside Hogwarts that night.

"Blue."

He was jerked along by the portkey roughly, feet slamming down on the ground in what he recognised as Dumbledore's office.

"Ah, Vladimir. You wished to speak to me?"

Biting back an irate retort - he was right but Vlad didn't like the implications of predictability in the portkey bringing him to the office - he nodded, seeing Fawkes' perch empty he resigned himself to sitting opposite Dumbledores desk.

"We should talk."

-YD-

 **longest chapter for a while I imagine. Let's hope it continues.**


	30. Killer Climax

**And so... the finale of Year Five!**

 **As you may have noticed we had days of errors I am so behind!**

-YDHP-

"Here you are. This is the only way to do what you propose. I am too weak myself at this point."

Vlad stood, reaching for the stone being held out to him. Dumbledore's magic was fading, that much was true. The curse had blackened most of his arm, made it difficult for the Headmaster to do his usual sweeping gestures and the man reeked of pain relievers.

"Ok. Point and think?"

"Essentially. This will be taxing on your powers though."

"I've got more reserves than most."

He cradled the Ward Stone in his hands, necessary to anchor the amount of magical protections in a building the size of Hogwarts. Malfoy Manor could do with one, though it was possible to ward it wing by wing and Vlad had managed. Hogwarts had unique magic, holding everything together and protecting students even from themselves.

It even prevented each rooms individual magic from interfering with another, like the protection charms on potion cabinets and the anti-boy charms on girls dormitory stairs. It sustained the trick steps and fake doors, the enchantments that stopped any student or attacker from throwing corrosive damaging products on the magical portraits.

Most of all, it helped contain all the ambient magic in the air - anywhere else, this many magical folk at varying stages of magical development, with their surges and spurts and occasional wild magic would be even more dangerous.

"Where's Fawkes?"

"Enjoying the sunshine."

The headmaster pointed up to the highest window, where a red-gold bundle of feathers was napping. Vlad whistled the closest he could to his phoenix trill, and soon a gorgeously plumed avian landed upon his shoulder.

"When I'm done with this, I'll need you to take care of it for me. If Riddle can't find it, he can't pull Hogwarts apart the way he plans to."

Fawkes rubbed his feathered head against Vlad's cheek, reassuring the vampire he was not to be rejected by his kin now he had transformed. Particularly when the phoenix knew Vlad intended to kill his wizard familiar. He understood; it was inevitable, and as Dumbledore would say - for the greater good.

"Do you know when?"

Dumbledore asked, remarkably calm about his own upcoming murder. Though really, he had sorta planned it.

"Soon. I have to give the signal, but Riddle is impatient. At best, a week? McGonogall knows, but any professor you can keep out of the loop, do so. If it seems like you're too prepared, it will be for naught."

"Agreed. I must warn Madam Pomfrey though, if she is not prepared for potential injuries it will be risking unnecessary deaths."

"I agree there. Though she knows I'm undercover, I expect she will be very unhappy about the upcoming events either way."

"Many will. I have taken multiple copies of my memories, telling Minerva of what was planned and ensured that, when this is all over, it is known your complicity in my death only shortened the process by a matter of weeks. And that I requested it of you."

"It's not me I'm worried about. When this is all over I have bigger problems to move on to than whether your incompetent Ministry of Magic thinks I'm a killer. It's Harry I worry for."

"He is lucky to have someone who cares for him so."

Vlad bit back an irate answer about how Dumbledore had been counting on it. He held the Ward Stone in his hand, slowly unravelling every strand of magic to see which ward it held, how it fixed to Hogwarts as a whole. The Apparition wards, he left. The portkey wards were altered to allow outgoing - with all the emergency ones Vlad had dispensed, it was essential.

The wards protecting the gates were stripped completely, leaving them nothing more than a structure of metal and stone. Nobody could fly over the walls, but they could walk right through the gates like a new student. Even Voldemort himself.

Vlad lifted here and tightened there, knowing he couldn't account for _every_ possibility but hoping he had done them right. When Vlad withdrew from the connection, he did admittedly feel drained but since he had been **humming** with power since the Mirror spat him out, Vlad imagined he was actually still middling in power.

"Ok. Here. Only bring this back to me or Harry, alright Fawkes?"

Only Vlad could even _find_ the phoenix nest hidden up atop one of the towers, in a spot accessible only through flaming in and out. So when Fawkes took the Stone to hide in his ashes pile, Vlad knew it would be safe.

There was an ashes pile beneath the phoenix perch in Dumbledores office, but from his unique perspective Vlad knew his kind had at least one private burning day each century in order to renew themselves with no outside interference. They would also take some of their previous nest to their new, to continue the never-ending circle of their lives. The regularity of burning days was individual to each phoenix - Fawkes burned approximately every forty years, but another had only been recorded to have one in a hundred years.

Obviously, there were hundreds of places the Stone _could_ be hidden. But the Ward Stone had to stay in Hogwarts, or else it would be rendered pointless and Vlad may as well have stripped them all away anyway.

"Are you ready to bow out and leave the stage?"

"To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"I wouldn't know, I'm immortal."

Was Vlad's deadpan remark, fingers fidgeting in his pockets as hunger started to make itself known. A very particular hunger. He felt something against his hand, pulling out what he realised was George's birthday gift for him. He enlarged the shrunken object, realised that his mad, wonderful (but mostly _mad)_ little sister had somehow sourced _soya blood._

"I should get going. I'll let you know when something will happen."

"Very well. I appreciate that you chose to take on such a burden Vladimir."

"It isn't for you."

He got up, waiting for Fawkes to return so he could bid the bird goodbye. Fawkes rested on his shoulder, nuzzling feathers against Vlad's temple with a low, mournful trill. He understood what was coming, a grim acceptance evident in the melody.

"I gotta go, but you stay safe yeah?"

Vlad needed to feed, then go and present his newly vampiric self to his mate. And everyone else, he mused. Then he had to check in with Voldemort, see his mother and then go set up an alarm on Stokely Castle in case anyone bearing a Dark Mark (other than him) tried to enter.

He was annoyed with his dad; he didn't want the man _ashed._

"Vladimir?"

Gritting his fangs - he _hated_ being called Vladimir - Vlad turned toward the headmaster.

"What?"

"You are a good man."

"Your platitudes have never satisfied me. Why would they work now when you're relying on my species' lack of conscience?"

"I suppose I would hope you could read between the lines. You were born to both worlds."

He left, pacing down the revolving staircase and following the call of the mate bond. He stopped to drink from the bottle in his hand, agreeing with Ingrid and Bertrand's summation that soy blood tasted terribly bland, but it soothed his hunger and quieted his stomach.

Vlad had forgotten to consider how intense the Great Hall would be on his senses, awash with a couple hundred heartbeats, competing scents and the _heat_ pouring from living bodies en masse. The voices battled for dominance in his ears, but one in particular cut through them all like fangs through... no, like a hot knife through butter. Vlad hushed the voices in his head, searching for the face in the crowd he needed.

"I thought your family did ceremonial traditional stuff for your sixteenth birthday?"

Someone asked, but Vlad only had eyes for Harry as he made it to Gryffindor table.

"Ditched. I'm not that big on tradition."

His senses were heightened more than ever, and Lucifer his mate was even more beautiful than Vlad had been capable of appreciating before.

"Hey Vlad!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Don't open our gift in front of teachers"

"Or Hermione"

"Or possibly anybody."

The Weasley twins jumped to hug him, heat burning against his chilled skin but they showed no surprise at his now-dead body. Vlad did his best to ignore twin pulses thrumming near his mouth, the heady scent of blood flooding freshly tuned senses. Once released, they returned to their meal like nothing had happened.

Harry was surreptitiously investigating his boyfriend, most distracted by mealtime so Harry could see the new changes in his face. Then there was the fact a few other students were eyeing Vlad more speculatively than before... he had been irrevocably Harry's for so long Vlad forgot that his pheromones would intensify to attract humans for an easier hunt.

"You ok?"

"Getting there."

Vlad, attempting to assimilate amongst humans, pushed food around his plate until they faded clean, replaced by dessert that he could feasibly turn down with the excuse of having already eaten birthday cake.

He was inordinately eager to touch his mate, taste his scent now the change was complete and to get away from all the _noise_ around them. He needed the bolstering before tonight when he presented his vampiric self to Riddle, prepared to end the school year with a death designed to prove he had 'turned' Harry to the dark side.

Vlad wondered if they'd still be fighting this war on his next birthday.

* * *

He didn't _look_ that different. Paler now no blood flushed his skin, quieter and more graceful by nature now he was a night hunter. Somehow, his hair sat a little neater even though Vlad's hair had always been fine and well behaved.

But his scent was more potent, more alluring; now he was a vampire, Vlad's body was intended to ensure his mate never tired of him. Not that Harry felt there was a danger there. But the unexpected increase couldn't hurt.

A box sat on Vlad's bed wrapped in lurid orange and purple paper was undoubtedly from the Weasley twins, and the vampire opened it with some trepidation while Harry sat on his own bed, itching to explore newly cooled skin properly.

"Well, I'm sure I'll find a use for this stuff. Not sure what, but I'll find something."

"What did they give you?"

"A bumper box of Weasley Wizards Wheezes stock... and a note saying they're looking at premises for a shop. Apparently they've had such success at school that this stuff is going public."

Harry sighed inwardly, sitting up on his bed properly.

"People will need a laugh soon."

Vlad's face clouded as he nodded.

"True."

Loathe as they were to separate, Harry knew Vlad had places to be first. Like visiting his mother. Harry wouldn't be forgotten, he could wait. Hopefully by the time Vlad was back, everyone should be asleep too. Which was good. Vlad left while everyone was still at dinner, closing his bedcurtains as a sign of an 'early night' after a long day. Merlin knew transforming into one of the undead probably counted there regardless.

"Where's the birthday boy?"

"Sleeping. Or studying for sixth year."

Neville chuckled, placing his flask of juice down and perching on his bed.

"I really wouldn't put it past him. Not even on his birthday."

Vlad didn't return for a few hours, and when he did Harry knew his boyfriend had been with Riddle, that slightly haunted look in his eyes that would take days to fade visible.

"He's anxious to celebrate, what with his baby due any day now."

"Meaning?"

"Three days. He wanted tomorrow night, but I wanted time for _us_ to be sure what's going to happen."

Harry took off his shirt, watching Vlad do the same and opening his arms for the vampire. He noted transformation hadn't wiped his skin blank as expected, but since Harry sort of liked their matching scars he wasn't especially distressed. Vlad's skin was cold rather than cool now, but Harry's reptilian skin adjusted to it with ease.

"We're going then?"

"We don't have much choice. We can't stay amongst the light side when Dumbledore is murdered in front of them" Vlad spat the words and Harry ached for how the burden had been placed on him; he point blank _refused_ to let Harry do it "and if we aren't faking dark side there would be no reason to kill Dumbledore. It's just going to be easier to find out where the horcruxes are and attempt some damage control from inside the belly of the beast."

"It's not murder. He's dying. It's more like... euthanising him."

"Are you saying I'm putting our headmaster down like a dog?"

Harry sighed, running a hand through Vlad's hair. He automatically relaxed in response. _That_ hadn't changed then.

"I'm saying he's in pain and if it's not us, it could be someone who draws it out and enjoys causing him _more_ pain. Dumbledore said it himself that he's surprised to have survived the year."

Vlad shrugged, turning to burrow into Harry's hold properly and splaying his hand over Harry's beating heart. He no longer had the vital rhythm himself.

"I just want this to be over."

"Me too Vlad. But hey, no matter what happens? We'll still have each other when it's over."

They stayed up late talking, planning, plotting. Fretting. Vlad's eyes glowed red in the dark when he got angry about the task Dumbledore had given him, but Harry's ability to calm him was as strong as ever. Soon enough, he had a vampire curled into his chest sound asleep. It was a little weird that he didn't breathe anymore, but hey. At least he'd never snore.

Harry fell asleep eventually too, a dreamless slumber that ended quickly despite no specific need to be awake so early. Vlad was already up, face buried in one of his new books about Rune magic, his newest hobby it seemed now he'd made more portkeys than the Department of Magical Transportation.

"Morning."

He rubbed his eyes, blinking away sleepiness to let his enhanced sight take Vlad in.

"Morning. It's definitely strange to be awake in the day now. It'll take some getting used to my newly nocturnal system."

"You see in the dark now?"

There was no light source in the enclosed curtains around them, so Vlad was either pretending or now able to read without it.

"Yep. Vampire perk I guess."

"Anyone else up?"

"Dean's in the bathroom."

Harry flopped back to his pillow to wait, not exiting the safety of bedcurtains until Vlad indicated it was safe. When he got back, Vlad was already getting dressed and Harry's belly fluttered pleasantly at how good the jacket he got from Draco looked.

"A jacket in June?"

"Nearly July. I don't get hot or cold anymore. But... you're right. It's just so comfortable!"

Vlad stroked the soft inner lining, then pouted as he slung the jacket up on the rack each bed had to hang up their robes. Then he cast sun protection charms over his skin, pocketed the accompanying potion for if they went outside.

"Early breakfast, then library? I want to work on some runic stuff where it'll be quiet."

"Suits me. But we should also visit the Thestrals before... before."

Harry trailed off, and Vlad nodded with a smile. Nobody was in the halls to overhear.

"You're right. They need warning to be careful, because if any group will all be able to see them..."

To see a thestral, someone had to have seen death. Death Eaters caused death regularly, so it was likely they wouldn't struggle to see the draconic horse creatures.

Breakfast was an unusually quiet affair, but then Harry remembered it was early and post-exams, so most would be sleeping in now classes started later, and weren't really that engaging. It was just to pass the time until term ended. Dumbledore missed breakfast sometimes now, possibly because he was exhausted pretending not to be dying. Vlad ate nothing but black pudding for breakfast, since nobody was there to see him.

"Carry this, add that... no, it would never sustain that mix."

Vlad muttered to himself as they worked in the library. Well, Vlad worked. Harry flipped through _Quidditch Through The Ages_ for a bit, then shifted his chair to sit in a stream of sunlight while his vampire boyfriend lingered in the shaded corner. This was where their differences showed, he supposed.

"Anything I'll _understand_ happening over there?"

The vampire chuckled, casting a localised charm to ensure nobody listened in.

"Trying to weave together some runes that'll work like mental shielding. It won't be as strong as Occlumency, but it would stop Riddle using Legilimency to see if someone's lying. But the two I was going to use clash when used in the same spellwork. So I need to find ones that will combine, or it won't work."

"I said _understand._ "

Vlad rolled his eyes fondly, knowing Harry understood just fine what he said. Then went back to his books, scribbling abstract shapes and mumbling to himself while tapping his quill against his face. There was a dire countdown hanging over them, and at the end of day one, lurking in the Forbidden Forest as night fell with the Thestrals, Harry realised just how soon their lives would change.

He was glad he had Vlad by his side for this upcoming battle. Harry wasn't sure where he'd be without the vampire who willingly put his life, his heart, even his _soul_ on the line to protect Harry. Who followed him into every mad, dangerous situation Harry ended up in, protected people Harry cared about despite his own feelings. Vlad literally had biological instincts that pushed him to be whatever Harry needed, and he only ever asked for Harry's smiles in return for everything he did.

Day two was the final day of first year exams, which meant the Great Hall was no longer closed between mealtimes and most students spent their hours there, eating snacks and spending time with those they could only owl over the summer holidays closing in.

The rest of the downtime was spent outside, languishing in the bright sunshine while Vlad was hidden away with his vampire sister, likely discussing whatever siblings about to be separated by sides of the war (at least outwardly) would do. From what Harry understood, Ingrid had suggested 'joining' up alongside Vlad to be part of the Death Eaters, but Vlad would not hear of it. He didn't want to take Harry, but Harry had no choice but to take part in the war.

Ingrid could stay out of it. Stay safe.

"If you want to see Raven, I suggest you do it tonight. I'm moving them tomorrow morning."

Harry frowned at Vlad's sudden speech, having been sat quietly eating fudge while Vlad meditated for the last twenty minutes.

"Moving?"

"Draco pointed something out to me. With how many people have portkeys to Malfoy Manor, it isn't safe for them. Especially when Severus doesn't want anyone knowing about Raven if he can help it."

"Where are they going?"

"Malfoy property in Romania. Draco only kept two buildings when he split from his mother, the Manor and one in Romania. I've been there to ward it, and Riddle isn't going to go to the land of the vampires any time soon."

Harry took Vlad's pointed hint and his boyfriend kindly apparated him to the Manor, where he spent an hour playing with an adamantly 'not tired!' toddler who charged around in her pyjamas with frazzled fathers shaking their heads.

"When?"

"Tomorrow night. Vlad told me he's moving you in the morning."

"His extended apparition capabilities do make things easier."

Raven clambered up on Harry's shoulders, messy curls tumbling around chubby cheeks as she giggled cheerfully.

"Arry!"

"Raven!"

Vlad left Harry there to enjoy his time with Raven, opting to apparate the bulk of luggage and a couple of house elves over to Romania so it would at the very least be habitable - especially for Raven.

Then he went hunting to sate the bloodlust he could no longer ignore. Vlad came back with the smell - and stains - of cow and sheep blood on him, a cow carcass out in the grounds ready for Samael to eat.

"Feel better?"

"Questionable. I'm no longer thirsty, but I think once I have the chance to settle a supply I'm definitely sticking to soya over animals."

Samael hugely appreciated the cow, and Harry hadn't quite gotten used to the fact Vlad now spoke Parseltongue, chatting with the Basilisk like it was any other day. Harry went to bid goodbye to Raven, kissing her tumbling curls as she yawned and cuddled into Harry's chest. He had to put her to bed himself for her to go down, but she went agreeably and turned on her side, thumb in her mouth and toy bat clutched in a little arm.

"Get some rest, I'll be back after breakfast."

Vlad took them back to Hogwarts; he landed in the Thestrals ares of the Forbidden Forest, wanting to spend more time with the young foals while he had the chance.

"Hey Vlad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you scared?"

The vampire looked over at him from where he sat on the floor with a youngling in his lap, stroking the bony protrusions of its skull with gentleness.

"No. I'm protecting you. That's all I need to motivate me."

Harry knew he wasn't lying. The soft smile on his lovers face was _so_ genuine as he handled the baby on his lap, stroking little leathery wings.

"We should head in. Don't know when the next chance to sleep will be."

If he was honest, Harry had a vague worry that post-transformation Vlad would be... too _cold_ during sex. But as the two dismissed the fact they needed sleep, clothes coming off in under a second as Vlad displayed even _more_ power, Harry found that if anything, it was better. Vlad's body was sturdier, could take it rougher and he was more than happy to encourage Harry there.

Plus, Vlad didn't sweat as much anymore. Harry burrowed into the cool embrace with his own flushed skin, beautifully soothing for him and they stole the last few hours slumber before D-day was upon them.

Vlad got up and showered quickly, Harry laying there for a minute or two to adjust to what today would mean. The vampire had known he was 'the Chosen One' since he was eleven, and had always been only a visitor to the magical world. So Vlad had always been preparing for his world to change. Harry hadn't quite thought about it for so long, and now he was a little... boggled.

"You alright?"

Vlad knelt on the bed, stroking Harry's cheek. Of course - he could sense Harry's mental state.

"Yeah. Just... big day. Go on to breakfast, I'll be along soon."

He wasn't terribly surprised by the fact Vlad was still in the common room waiting, though he was sat quietly talking with his little sister, who was playing with Phantom.

"Hey Harry!"

As ever, George was incessantly cheery at the crack of dawn. When Vlad turned, Harry felt a bolt of heat in his gut as the vampires fangs were exposed.

"It's not what it looks like. George wanted to see."

Harry had only seen them in bed; Vlad was very aware of his fangs and vampirism, fought for control over them constantly and only Harry took control from the vampire so easily. It was probably for the best when it came to Harry's attention span, as he found the fangs almost unreasonably attractive.

"Fair enough."

Little things kept occurring to Harry over breakfast. This was the last time the headmaster would be at breakfast. Would _eat_ breakfast. Professor McGonogall was visibly tense, and while Harry knew she _knew,_ it was still losing someone for her. Almost every student in the room would have no idea they'd never see Dumbledore alive again after today. Harry found himself hoping that the Head was the only casualty of the night.

Several of the Marked students were watching Harry, he could feel their eyes on him as he ate the mushroom and bacon mountain on his plate. Vlad hid black pudding in his egg-and-bacon sandwich, then finished a cup of tea and left to relocate Harry's baby sister and her fathers. He promised there would be a portkey in Malfoy Manor so Draco - assuming he went into hiding, likely with his defector status - could still see Raven. The girl wouldn't be lonely or without both her big brothers.

Harry was going to miss her terribly, but her safety was everyone's priority.

"He'll be here at nightfall. And he wants it done where he can see..."

Vlad and the headmaster were finalising battle plans, which included how they were going to play it down to the letter. Harry's mouth was dry as they discussed it so coolly, like they were discussing the weather. But he recognised the slight dimming in Vlad's eyes; he was using Occlumency to manage his emotions, to keep a clear head.

"Here. It won't last very long, but you don't need it to."

Vlad was holding out a small vial that Harry could smell was a Strengthening Solution, designed for Aurors to use in short bursts for fights but it faded within an hour. It was a controlled substance, but Vlad obviously had his ways.

"What's that for?"

Harry asked, pretty sure Vlad didn't need it and unsure how it would help Dumbledore if he was dying already.

"He's too doped on painkillers as is. That will get him through dinner, so he doesn't look like he's dying. Riddle won't be too pleased if we're putting down a lame animal rather than bringing down his top rival."

As they left the office, Harry looked around the school hallways. They might never walk these halls again. He would never sit opposite the head in his office again... soon Dumbledore would join the portraits of the dead. Vlad and Fawkes had a silent but intense conversation, and Harry marvelled at the strange dynamic; Vlad was about to kill Fawkes' wizard familiar. That ought to put a dent in their friendship, but it seemed there was an understanding.

"Don't."

Vlad spoke sharply, eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"Don't what?"

Harry quizzed, unsure what had prompted his sudden speech.

"You're thinking of trying. I'm doing this."

The thought had barely entered Harry's mind, but then Vlad could probably sense his mounting dread and doubt.

"I can't help but-"

"No. Harry, I am _begging_ you. Let me?"

It was incredibly difficult to argue with a mated vampires pathological need to protect their mate, knowing Vlad couldn't help but do his best to shield Harry. He didn't think him weak or incapable; he just wanted Harry protected in any way he could.

If it meant killing in Harry's place, then Vlad would do it. Without hesitation.

Nightfall meant after dinner in the late June sunshine, and Vlad played with his food as he watched Dumbledore. He was waiting for something. Harry chewed on his treacle tart, appetite lower than usual but he knew he couldn't _not_ eat or he would risk getting hungry later with his Basilisk metabolism.

The signal was minor, a Sixth Year Hufflepuff student coming in from outside, looking worried but Harry knew they were Marked. The student hastened to the High Table, whispered something to the headmaster. With less of a visible effort than usual - he had taken the potion, presumably hidden in his drink - Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"A creature has escaped from the Forbidden Forest, and as such the grounds are off limits until they are made secure again. My apologies, but cold drinks and snacks will be available in your common rooms to make up for this."

The Hall buzzed with chatter and two teachers hastened to the Entrance Hall doors, ensuring no curious teens got out where it was 'dangerous'. The real animals hadn't arrived yet. Firecrackers sparked from Dumbledores direction, but Harry saw Vlad's hand twitch; he was doing it.

"Silence! Prefects will lead the students back to your common rooms. Head Boy and Head Girl, kindly stay behind."

Hermione and Draco leapt up, not even appearing as though they had been eating ice cream a minute ago. They knew _exactly_ what was happening, and were keen to ensure the younger students moved to safer ground sooner rather than later. Much to the curious students dismay, their tables cleared of all food, promises it had been moved shifting the ones missing their desserts. Vlad rose quietly, not saying anything as they hung back from the surge of students. Harry followed his example, found himself yanked behind a tapestry that hid a secret passage in the chaos.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

After a sun charm and potion, Vlad stared at his watch, timing five minutes before he waved invisibility spells over them both. Their trunks were packed and in Vlad's backpack, even Samael's. It was going to become very clear very fast that parts of this were orchestrated.

"Fawkes?"

The phoenix appeared, knowing where Vlad was despite their invisibility.

"It's almost time. Find him. Say goodbye."

Vlad's voice wavered for a second as the magnitude hit them both, but once the phoenix vanished they headed back out. The halls were quiet, even the staircases behaving themselves as they let the teens descend. There was lemongrass in Vlad's sun-protective skin cover, made him smell a little like sherbet lemon sweets.

Dumbledores favourite.

The teachers, still in the Great Hall, were perplexed, Diggory and the Head Girl at the front doors as guard. McGonogall was pale. Vlad, hand around Harry's, led them along to the side corridor toward Filch's cleaning cupboard on the ground floor. The back wall was an emergency exit to the outside grounds.

"Wait here. Stay invisible."

Vlad murmured, then took off at what Harry knew was called 'flitting' by vampires, the incredible speed of their supernatural race. Harry heard voices nearby, turned to see what he knew were the follower students hidden amongst the plants lining the outside wall. He took a couple of steps closer, eavesdropping.

"Reckon Potter will do it?"

"Nah, he ain't got the stones. The Dark Lord will do it. Prove his strength."

"He could kill Potter for that."

"Not without pissing off his pet vampire. What does Dorkula have that I don't?"

"Fangs? Super powers? The future control of all vampires?"

"Shut up."

Harry rolled his eyes; they weren't totally clueless but they were still idiots. As he looked out across the grounds, Harry hoped Hagrid and Fang weren't going to get caught in the cross fire.

"Albus!"

 _Merlin_ that was loud. Riddle stormed across the grounds with a handful of followers behind him, Vlad visible again at his side. The magically enhanced voice boomed, calling Dumbledore out. Still near the doors, he heard Dumbledore telling a teacher to call the Aurors. It was necessary for the show to be as believable as possible. Death Eater Juniors ran from their hiding place toward their boss, now noticeably dressed for the occasion in cloaks and masks.

Dumbledore threw the doors open wide, framed by the light as he came out.

"Tom. You have friends I see."

"Indeed. Including one who enabled our entry."

Teachers could hear as Riddle implicated Vlad, who's face was impassive at best.

"The Aurors are on their way."

"They'll be too late. Go!"

Most of Hogwarts staff were not seasoned duellists, and the fact Vlad stepped forward with the bad guys was probably throwing them off. He ran to Harry, murmuring "do what I say" before dropping the invisibility spell while Death Eaters ganged up on teachers defending students.

"Don't bother with the fight, we need a bit of chaos. Sorry if I shove you too hard."

Vlad must be really fighting himself in order to drag Harry roughly along, Harry's best attempts to resist futile against the vampires strength. Lights and zipping spells burst all around them, but Vlad stopped them where Dumbledore was duelling Riddle. They didn't have long; Dumbledore was fading fast.

"Do it Harry! Do it!"

Trying to remember to look nervous, Harry lifted a shaky hand holding his wand. A high pitched shrieking sound filled the air for a second and several Death Eaters fell over; Vlad was smirking at Riddle, knowing it annoyed him to 'even the odds'. There were three times as many bad guys as good guys on the grounds. Students would be flocking to the windows now to see what was happening. Harry 'hesitated', looked to Vlad.

"Do it!"

Vlad waved his hand and the wave of black cloaks stumbled back, the shriek returning and Harry raised his wand. Dumbledore turned, facing him full on. He lifted his own wand, surrounding them with some kind of smoke that would become a fierce shield should he complete the spell.

Green light shot from the two teens, the fog around them fading instantly but the purpose was served. It meant nobody would have seen that Vlad cast the spell. It connected square with the headmasters chest, knocked him several feet backwards before he crumpled to the ground. Quite dead.

"No!"

Several teachers cried out as they saw him fall, saw Harry holding his wand still in front of him. Vlad shook his head, pulled his own wand and grabbed Harry before anyone could get too close. Hagrid was on the grass nearby, and he looked so completely devastated that Harry ached with guilt for making him _see_ that.

"Harry? No!"

McGonogall, to ger credit, looked convincingly thunderstruck. Vlad growled at his side, pushed Harry behind him and raised his wand to point up to the sky.

 _"Mosmordre!"_

The clouds tore themselves apart and reformed in the shape of the brand on Vlad's chest; it took a Dark Mark to cast the spell. Then he turned to Riddle, face hard as stone.

"Out of here! Now! Before the Aurors come."

"We should-"

"Let them break first. That was our deal. Or should I let them take Harry back?"

Riddle scowled, but conceded. He couldn't fight the Unbreakable Vow. Couldn't kill anyone there. That was the only reason Dumbledore held up against him so long.

"Let's go!"

The apparition wards were in place, but Death Eaters popped away by portkey all around them until only Vlad, Riddle and Harry remained. Vlad took a few steps away from Harry, turning back to look between boy and dead wizard.

"Harry? Come on!"

Harry looked around, still clutching his wand. He stood silent for a few heartbeats, and then he turned to where Vlad was waiting. Vlad grabbed his hand, placed it on the poison bottle being used as their portkey. They left Hogwarts with the 'knowledge' Harry had been turned, bearing witness to both the murder of the Light Side's leader and the death of their hope in Harry.

-YDHP-

 **I can't write action scenes.**

 **Smut? No problem. Fluff? Buckets of.**

 **Action? Nope.**

 **Anyway... year five! Don't forget to review. Then go straight over to the start of Year Six.**


End file.
